In 2023, Will Smith became a cult figure when he was the star of an early AI-generated video of him eating spaghetti.
Now, Smith is at the centre of tech attention again after being accused of using AI to enhance a video of his current tour.
The YouTube video is a collection of clips from the tour, which is currently on its UK leg, encompassing Scarborough, London and Wolverhampton.
Will Smith, performing at Scarborough, is currently on a tour of the UK
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Comments under the video, titled “My favourite part of the tour is seeing you all up close”, appear united in their condemnation of the use of AI, which viewers believe they can identify through distorted faces, hands and changes to the original clips.
Fans and experts say some clips appear distorted, which can be a sign of AI
Experts agreed that there are telltale signs of AI. Emmanuelle Saliba, the chief investigative officer at GetReal Labs, a company that identifies deepfakes, said: “We were able to identify some of the scenes as real footage of his concerts. But it seems something has happened to the footage, and it appears distorted. The distortion — faces that look almost melted — is similar to distortion we see in generative AI videos.”
Henry Ajder, an expert on deepfakes, said: “It bears a hell of a lot of the hallmarks of AI-generated content.”
Ajder said it was surprising that Smith would have used AI in this way, given the spaghetti video, which has become a benchmark for AI progress. The clip, which went viral after being posted on Reddit in March 2023, was of poor quality and became an example of the limitations of AI. Only two and a half years later, tools such as Veo3 and Sora are able to create realistic video content.
Smith posted a parody spaghetti video last year with the caption: “This is getting out of hand”.
Ajder said: “It’s not like he has not got awareness of the proliferation of AI-generated content and the way that it’s playing a role in the zeitgeist.
“For someone who’s an established figure to use this with that perspective is baffling. Did you not think people were going to notice or suspect? It’s a particularly sloppy example of using AI-generated content in this way.”
He added: “I think we will move towards the point where if content does not have a label to provide authenticity I think we’re going to have people increasingly assuming that AI is being used in some form or another.”
Saliba agrees: “We are entering an era now where everything is being questioned. Anything that looks a little off is up for debate. It’s hugely problematic for our overall trust in visual content.”
Smith, who is best known for his role in the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and films including Men in Black, has been attempting to rebuild his career after he infamously slapped the comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.
Odd-looking hands and fingers were cited as reasons people believed the footage might involve AI
Rock had made a joke at the expense of Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
Smith released his first album in two decades, Based on a True Story, in March to mixed reviews.
Other musicians have been criticised for the use of AI. During his tour of the United States, Rod Stewart featured AI-generated videos of dead celebrities as part of a tribute to the recently deceased Black Sabbath frontman, Ozzy Osbourne.
Content creators have claimed YouTube is using AI to “upscale” uploaded videos by enhancing image resolution and details.
Google, the parent company of YouTube, told The Atlantic magazine that it was running an “experiment” using “enhancement technology to sharpen content”. It said, however, that it was not using generative AI.
GetReal Labs said it tested the Smith video using Synth ID, Google’s tool for watermarking AI content on its platforms, but found no positive results.
Smith’s representatives were approached for comment.