{ "archive_path": "archive/1764521399.153363", "base_url": "www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz", "basename": "fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz", "bookmarked_date": "2025-11-30 16:49", "canonical": { "archive_org_path": "https://web.archive.org/web/www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz", "dom_path": "output.html", "favicon_path": "favicon.ico", "git_path": "git/", "google_favicon_path": "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.npr.org", "headers_path": "headers.json", "htmltotext_path": "htmltotext.txt", "index_path": "index.html", "media_path": "media/", "mercury_path": "mercury/content.html", "pdf_path": "output.pdf", "readability_path": "readability/content.html", "screenshot_path": "screenshot.png", "singlefile_path": "singlefile.html", "warc_path": "warc/", "wget_path": null }, "domain": "www.npr.org", "downloaded_at": "2025-11-30T16:50:04.343535+00:00", "downloaded_datestr": "2025-11-30 16:50", "extension": "", "hash": "11F8M9FVN6TEP8ENBHA6", "history": { "archive_org": [ { "cmd": [ "/usr/bin/curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--proxy", "socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150", "--head", "--max-time", "60", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)", "https://web.archive.org/save/https://www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz" ], "cmd_version": "8.10.1", "end_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:57.466141+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "ArchiveError: Failed to find \"content-location\" URL header in Archive.org response.", "pwd": "/data/archive/1764521399.153363", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:55.510491+00:00", "status": "failed" } ], "dom": [ { "cmd": [ "/usr/bin/chromium-browser", "--proxy-server=socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150", "--disable-features=DarkMode", "--run-all-compositor-stages-before-draw", "--hide-scrollbars", "--autoplay-policy=no-user-gesture-required", "--no-first-run", "--use-fake-ui-for-media-stream", "--use-fake-device-for-media-stream", "--simulate-outdated-no-au='Tue, 31 Dec 2099 23:59:59 GMT'", "--headless=new", "--no-sandbox", "--no-zygote", "--disable-dev-shm-usage", "--disable-software-rasterizer", "--disable-sync", "--window-size=1440,2000", "--user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)", "--user-data-dir=/data/personas/Default/chrome_profile", "--profile-directory=Default", "--dump-dom", "https://www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz" ], "cmd_version": "131.0.6778", "end_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:31.846627+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "output.html", "pwd": "/data/archive/1764521399.153363", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:13.652615+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "favicon": [ { "cmd": [ "/usr/bin/curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--proxy", "socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150", "--max-time", "60", "--output", "favicon.ico", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)", "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.npr.org" ], "cmd_version": "8.10.1", "end_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:07.652742+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "favicon.ico", "pwd": "/data/archive/1764521399.153363", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:05.114492+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "git": [], "headers": [ { "cmd": [ "/usr/bin/curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--proxy", "socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150", "--head", "--max-time", "60", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)", "https://www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz" ], "cmd_version": "8.10.1", "end_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:08.105703+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "headers.json", "pwd": "/data/archive/1764521399.153363", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:07.684229+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "htmltotext": [ { "cmd": [ "(internal) archivebox.extractors.htmltotext", "./{singlefile,dom}.html" ], "cmd_version": "0.8.5rc51", "end_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:47.209694+00:00", "index_texts": [ "Can you spot AI videos from real ones? Take our quiz : NPR (https://www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz) (Technology) (https://feeds.npr.org/1019/rss.xml) (https://media.npr.org/chrome/favicon/favicon-180x180.png) (https://media.npr.org/chrome/favicon/favicon.ico) (https://media.npr.org/chrome/favicon/favicon-96x96.png) (https://media.npr.org/chrome/favicon/favicon-48x48.png) (https://media.npr.org/chrome/favicon/favicon-32x32.png) (https://media.npr.org/chrome/favicon/favicon-16x16.png) (https://prod-eks-bundles.npr.org/dist/bundles/persistent-css-9afcbad9a2a7e0ef641d.css) (https://prod-eks-bundles.npr.org/dist/bundles/persistent_medium-css-9afcbad9a2a7e0ef641d.css) (https://prod-eks-bundles.npr.org/dist/bundles/persistent_large-css-9afcbad9a2a7e0ef641d.css) (https://prod-eks-bundles.npr.org/dist/bundles/fonts-css-9afcbad9a2a7e0ef641d.css) (https://prod-eks-bundles.npr.org/dist/bundles/newsStory-css-9afcbad9a2a7e0ef641d.css) (https://s.go-mpulse.net/boomerang/MBVDT-3L9KY-36ZMJ-SPSAR-JR833) Accessibility links Skip to main content (https://help.npr.org/contact/s/article?name=what-are-the-keyboard-shortcuts-for-using-the-npr-org-audio-player) Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu (/) (NPR logo) (/newsletters/) Newsletters (https://shopnpr.org) NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu (/) Home (/sections/news/) News Expand/collapse submenu for News (/sections/national/) National (/sections/world/) World (/sections/politics/) Politics (/sections/business/) Business (/sections/health/) Health (/sections/science/) Science (/sections/climate/) Climate (/sections/codeswitch/) Race (/sections/culture/) Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture (/books/) Books (/sections/movies/) Movies (/sections/television/) Television (/sections/pop-culture/) Pop Culture (/sections/food/) Food (/sections/art-design/) Art & Design (/sections/performing-arts/) Performing Arts (/lifekit/) Life Kit (/sections/gaming/) Gaming (/music/) Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music (https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/) All Songs Considered (https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/) Tiny Desk (https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/606254804/new-music-friday) New Music Friday (https://www.npr.org/sections/music-features) Music Features (https://www.npr.org/series/770565791/npr-music-live-sessions) Live Sessions (/podcasts-and-shows/) Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily (/programs/morning-edition/) () Morning Edition (/programs/weekend-edition-saturday/) () Weekend Edition Saturday (/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/) () Weekend Edition Sunday (/programs/all-things-considered/) () All Things Considered (/programs/fresh-air/) () Fresh Air (/podcasts/510318/up-first/) () Up First Featured (https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510311/embedded) () Embedded (https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510310/npr-politics-podcast) () The NPR Politics Podcast (https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510333/throughline) () Throughline (https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510374/trumps-terms) () Trump's Terms (/podcasts-and-shows/) More Podcasts & Shows (/search/) Search (/newsletters/) Newsletters (https://shopnpr.org) NPR Shop (/music/) (NPR Music) (NPR Music) (https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/) All Songs Considered (https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/) Tiny Desk (https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/606254804/new-music-friday) New Music Friday (https://www.npr.org/sections/music-features) Music Features (https://www.npr.org/series/770565791/npr-music-live-sessions) Live Sessions (/about/) About NPR (/diversity/) Diversity (/support/) Support (/careers/) Careers (/series/750003/press-room/) Press (/ethics/) Ethics Can you spot AI videos from real ones? Take our quiz There's no one way to be absolutely sure about a video's authenticity, but experts say there are some simple clues that can help. (https://www.npr.org/sections/explainer) Explainer (https://www.npr.org/sections/technology/) Technology AI video slop is everywhere, take our quiz to try and spot it (AI video slop is everywhere, take our quiz to try and spot it) (AI video slop is everywhere, take our quiz to try and spot it) (https://www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz) November 30, 2025 5:00 AM ET Heard on (https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/nx-s1-5590963/weekend-edition-sunday-for-november-30-2025) Weekend Edition Sunday By (https://www.npr.org/people/279612138/geoff-brumfiel) (Geoff Brumfiel, photographed for NPR, 17 January 2019, in Washington DC.) (https://www.npr.org/people/279612138/geoff-brumfiel) Geoff Brumfiel , (https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-97463/sanidhya-sharma) Sanidhya Sharma Slop Spotting (https://ondemand.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/wesun/2025/11/20251130_wesun_slop_spotting.mp3?t=progseg&e=nx-s1-5590963&p=10&seg=9&d=363&size=5811767&sc=siteplayer&aw_0_1st.playerid=siteplayer) Listen \u00b7 6:03 6:03 Toggle more options (https://ondemand.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/wesun/2025/11/20251130_wesun_slop_spotting.mp3?t=progseg&e=nx-s1-5590963&p=10&seg=9&d=363&size=5811767&sc=siteplayer&aw_0_1st.playerid=siteplayer) Download Embed Embed () < iframe src=\"https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5610951/nx-s1-9552881\" width=\"100%\" height=\"290\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"NPR embedded audio player\"> You're lazing around the living room after a big holiday meal, when your uncle starts flipping through vertical videos. \"Did you see that one of the cat snatching that snake out of a dude's bed?\" he asks. (https://www.npr.org/2025/10/03/nx-s1-5560200/openai-sora-social-media) (Screenshots of AI-generated videos show the moon landing, NPR reporter Geoff Brumfiel on a boat and a dog driving a car.) (https://www.npr.org/sections/technology/) Technology (https://www.npr.org/2025/10/03/nx-s1-5560200/openai-sora-social-media) Kiss reality goodbye: AI-generated social media has arrived (https://www.npr.org/2025/10/03/nx-s1-5560200/openai-sora-social-media) Is it real? Is it fake? You feel a headache coming on. \"We're being overrun by slop,\" said Mike Caulfield, a co-author of the book Verified: How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions about What to Believe Online . \"It just floods the zone and at some point your mental faculties are just exhausted.\" But Caulfield and other experts say you don't need to give in to despair, at least not yet. There are a few simple dos and don'ts you can use to try and evaluate the authenticity of what you see online. Don't assume everything is fake With so much slop in our feeds, it's easy to think that everything you see online is fake. But that bias is just as dangerous as believing everything you see is real, warned Kolina Koltai, a senior investigator at Bellingcat, an organization that specializes in open-source investigations. Sponsor Message (https://www.npr.org/2023/05/08/1174132413/people-are-trying-to-claim-real-videos-are-deepfakes-the-courts-are-not-amused) (People are trying to claim real videos are deepfakes. The courts are not amused) (https://www.npr.org/series/973275370/untangling-disinformation) Untangling Disinformation (https://www.npr.org/2023/05/08/1174132413/people-are-trying-to-claim-real-videos-are-deepfakes-the-courts-are-not-amused) People are trying to claim real videos are deepfakes. The courts are not amused Bystander videos remain an extremely important source of evidence for misdeeds by individuals and law enforcement. When people stop believing those videos, researchers call it the (https://www.npr.org/2023/05/08/1174132413/people-are-trying-to-claim-real-videos-are-deepfakes-the-courts-are-not-amused) \"liar's dividend\" because it makes it easier for bad actors to claim real events are fake to evade responsibility. \"I think that's one of the bigger risks when it comes to this kind of content,\" said Koltai. \"It's not that someone's going to believe a fake video, it's that people won't believe real videos.\" (https://www.npr.org/2024/08/14/nx-s1-5072687/trump-harris-walz-election-rally-ai-fakes) (This photo shows a scene from a Kamala Harris and Tim Walz rally in Detroit on Aug. 7. Many people are crowded together in an aircraft hangar, facing a stage where Harris speaks at a lectern. The hangar is open to the outdoors, and outside is Air Force Two and a blue sky.) (https://www.npr.org/series/973275370/untangling-disinformation) Untangling Disinformation (https://www.npr.org/2024/08/14/nx-s1-5072687/trump-harris-walz-election-rally-ai-fakes) Why false claims that a picture of a Kamala Harris rally was AI-generated matter Koltai and others say it's especially important to carefully consider videos that might provoke a strong emotional response or run contrary to your beliefs. Real videos are often complicated situations that can provoke a response that challenges our understanding of the world. That being said, many fake videos are designed to do just that, in order to drive engagement. Do pay attention to some simple features of the video AI-generated videos are already excellent and improving quickly, said Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley who studies manipulated media. Even experts can be duped, he said. \"I've been doing this every day for a long time, and it's really hard. It's really hard.\" But there are some fairly straightforward features that can clue you in to whether the content you're watching might be AI. The biggest tip is the video length. (https://www.npr.org/2025/10/10/nx-s1-5567162/sora-ai-openai-deepfake) (Online safety experts say something else that is happening may be less obvious but more consequential to the future of the internet: OpenAI has essentially rebranded deepfakes as a light-hearted plaything and recommendation engines are loving it.) (https://www.npr.org/sections/technology/) Technology (https://www.npr.org/2025/10/10/nx-s1-5567162/sora-ai-openai-deepfake) Sora gives deepfakes 'a publicist and a distribution deal.' It could change the internet Most companies limit the lengths of AI videos \"because making these videos is computationally very expensive,\" Farid said. Many videos end up being just 8-10 seconds in length. While it is possible to cobble together a longer video with a bunch of short cuts, \"when you see those little bite-sized videos, it's a good indication that you should take a breath.\" Length isn't the only thing; AI-generated videos tend to perfectly frame their subject, said Farid. The main characters in the video are prominently featured, and the action starts and stops cleanly, even if the video is short. That's one reason the quiz video of the New York City police officer shouting at ICE agents is obviously fake. Sponsor Message \"It has that kind of almost professional look to it,\" he said. The position of the camera can also be strange\u2013is it too close to the subjects of say, an ICE raid? Or does it move too smoothly to follow a running animal as if it's on a gimbal? Those could be clues it's generated by AI. Do check the context The features of a video are important, but the place it's being shared can sometimes matter even more, said Caulfield. Checking where a video was posted and even simply looking at the comments can provide powerful clues. For example, the second video of an ICE raid in the quiz came from a Reddit community for the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. Similarly, look at who posted the video. If they have other sorts of content on their feed than just immigration raids, it lends credibility to the idea that they witnessed the raid. \"It might be easy to fake a video but it's hard to get into a time machine and build yourself ten years of history talking about Chicago hot dogs,\" Caulfield said. If you're unsure whether the video you're seeing was originally posted by the account you're watching, try a simple (https://libguides.princeton.edu/medialiteracy/reverseimagesearching) reverse image search on Google or another platform. Often such searches can turn up the original post, other videos from the same event or news reports that either confirm or refute the video. Both the (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TV5t0e9v5Y) Logan Square ICE raid and the (https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/watch-moose-helps-itself-popcorn-alaska-movie-theater) moose eating popcorn were reported by the media at the time they happened. Conversely, identifying an AI video is often as simple as looking carefully at the account that posted it. It's common for accounts to identify their content as AI-generated in their profile description, said Koltai. Even if they don't, checking the comments can often reveal that many people believe a video is AI-generated. Sponsor Message Don't feel like you have to share it, especially if you have doubts Finally, all three researchers agree that in an age where algorithms reward speed over accuracy, (https://www.npr.org/2024/09/30/g-s1-24711/to-combat-misinformation-start-with-connection-not-correction) sharing is not really caring . (https://www.npr.org/2024/09/30/g-s1-24711/to-combat-misinformation-start-with-connection-not-correction) (Illustration showing an intricate maze formed in the shape of a white speech bubble on a yellow background. The speech bubble maze symbolizes getting to the source of and combatting misinformation with loved ones.) (https://www.npr.org/lifekit) Life Kit (https://www.npr.org/2024/09/30/g-s1-24711/to-combat-misinformation-start-with-connection-not-correction) To combat misinformation, start with connection, not correction Much of the AI content being shared online is engagement bait, said Koltai. Its creators \"often have a monetary incentive to get you to like, comment, and share, because it often results in them making more money,\" she said. When in doubt, Caulfield said, the best thing may be to wait. \"You don't necessarily have to be the first one to share this thing, you can be the person who waits,\" he said. Often within a matter of hours, a video of an event will be confirmed by corroborating videos or news reports. Many people might not think it matters whether you share an AI video of bunnies jumping on a trampoline, or a cat snatching a snake from its owner's bed, but experts agree that it does. When people are duped by AI videos, it erodes faith in the videos that matter. (https://www.npr.org/2025/07/28/nx-s1-5481822/social-media-mental-health-warning) (Mental health warnings on social media? Minnesota will require them next year) (https://www.npr.org/sections/national/) National (https://www.npr.org/2025/07/28/nx-s1-5481822/social-media-mental-health-warning) Mental health warnings on social media? Minnesota will require them next year \"People are like oh is it really that big a deal?\" she said. But Koltai said everyone should be worried. \"If we are unable to tell what's real and what's unreal online? That to me is really incredibly dangerous.\" Hany Farid agrees: \"Every one of those likes, clicks, shares, engagements, you're part of the problem at this point,\" he said. (https://www.npr.org/tags/133775819/artificial-intelligence) Artificial Intelligence (https://www.npr.org/tags/125099514/social-media) social media (https://www.npr.org/tags/794171956/deepfake-videos) deepfake videos Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen (/) Home (/sections/news/) News (/sections/culture/) Culture (/music/) Music (/podcasts-and-shows) Podcasts & Shows Connect (/newsletters/) Newsletters (https://www.facebook.com/NPR/) Facebook (https://www.instagram.com/npr/) Instagram (/series/750003/press-room/) Press (/sections/publiceditor/) Public Editor (/corrections/) Corrections (/transcripts/) Transcripts (https://help.npr.org/contact/s/) Contact & Help About NPR (/about/) Overview (/diversity/) Diversity (/network/) NPR Network (/about-npr/1136563345/accessibility) Accessibility (/ethics/) Ethics (/about-npr/178660742/public-radio-finances) Finances Get Involved (/support/) Support Public Radio (/about-npr/186948703/corporate-sponsorship) Sponsor NPR (/careers/) NPR Careers (https://shopnpr.org/) NPR Shop (https://www.nprpresents.org) NPR Events (/sections/npr-extra/) NPR Extra (/about-npr/179876898/terms-of-use) Terms of Use (/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) Privacy (/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy#yourchoices) Your Privacy Choices (https://text.npr.org/) Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message (/about-npr/186948703/corporate-sponsorship) Become an NPR sponsor (Optimizely Internal Frame) (CrazyEgg Tracking iframe) " ], "output": "htmltotext.txt", "pwd": "/data/archive/1764521399.153363", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:47.119822+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "media": [ { "cmd": [ "/usr/local/bin/yt-dlp", "--restrict-filenames", "--trim-filenames", "128", "--write-description", "--write-info-json", "--write-annotations", "--write-thumbnail", "--no-call-home", "--write-sub", "--write-auto-subs", "--convert-subs=srt", "--yes-playlist", "--continue", "--no-abort-on-error", "--ignore-errors", "--geo-bypass", "--add-metadata", "--format=(bv*+ba/b)[filesize<=750m][filesize_approx<=?750m]/(bv*+ba/b)", "--skip-download", "--cache-dir=/data/yt-dlp-cache/", "--cookies=/data/yt-dlp-cache/cookies.txt", "--proxy=socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150", "--no-playlist", "https://www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz" ], "cmd_version": "2024.10.7", "end_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:55.445079+00:00", "index_texts": [], "output": "media/", "pwd": "/data/archive/1764521399.153363", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:48.891828+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "mercury": [ { "cmd": [ "/home/archivebox/.npm/bin/postlight-parser", "https://www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz" ], "cmd_version": "2.2.3", "end_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:47.071552+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "mercury/", "pwd": "/data/archive/1764521399.153363", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:43.597900+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "pdf": [], "readability": [ { "cmd": [ "/home/archivebox/.npm/bin/readability-extractor", "/tmp/tmpxrbaq8z0", "https://www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz" ], "cmd_version": "0.0.11", "end_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:35.582352+00:00", "index_texts": [ "You're lazing around the living room after a big holiday meal, when your uncle starts flipping through vertical videos. \"Did you see that one of the cat snatching that snake out of a dude's bed?\" he asks. \n \n\n Is it real? Is it fake? You feel a headache coming on. \"We're being overrun by slop,\" said Mike Caulfield, a co-author of the book Verified: How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions about What to Believe Online. \"It just floods the zone and at some point your mental faculties are just exhausted.\" But Caulfield and other experts say you don't need to give in to despair, at least not yet. There are a few simple dos and don'ts you can use to try and evaluate the authenticity of what you see online. Don't assume everything is fake With so much slop in our feeds, it's easy to think that everything you see online is fake. But that bias is just as dangerous as believing everything you see is real, warned Kolina Koltai, a senior investigator at Bellingcat, an organization that specializes in open-source investigations. \n \n \n\n Bystander videos remain an extremely important source of evidence for misdeeds by individuals and law enforcement. When people stop believing those videos, researchers call it the \"liar's dividend\" because it makes it easier for bad actors to claim real events are fake to evade responsibility. \"I think that's one of the bigger risks when it comes to this kind of content,\" said Koltai. \"It's not that someone's going to believe a fake video, it's that people won't believe real videos.\" \n \n\n Koltai and others say it's especially important to carefully consider videos that might provoke a strong emotional response or run contrary to your beliefs. Real videos are often complicated situations that can provoke a response that challenges our understanding of the world. That being said, many fake videos are designed to do just that, in order to drive engagement. Do pay attention to some simple features of the video AI-generated videos are already excellent and improving quickly, said Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley who studies manipulated media. Even experts can be duped, he said. \"I've been doing this every day for a long time, and it's really hard. It's really hard.\" But there are some fairly straightforward features that can clue you in to whether the content you're watching might be AI. The biggest tip is the video length. \n \n\n Most companies limit the lengths of AI videos \"because making these videos is computationally very expensive,\" Farid said. Many videos end up being just 8-10 seconds in length. While it is possible to cobble together a longer video with a bunch of short cuts, \"when you see those little bite-sized videos, it's a good indication that you should take a breath.\" Length isn't the only thing; AI-generated videos tend to perfectly frame their subject, said Farid. The main characters in the video are prominently featured, and the action starts and stops cleanly, even if the video is short. That's one reason the quiz video of the New York City police officer shouting at ICE agents is obviously fake. \n \"It has that kind of almost professional look to it,\" he said. The position of the camera can also be strange\u2013is it too close to the subjects of say, an ICE raid? Or does it move too smoothly to follow a running animal as if it's on a gimbal? Those could be clues it's generated by AI. Do check the context The features of a video are important, but the place it's being shared can sometimes matter even more, said Caulfield. Checking where a video was posted and even simply looking at the comments can provide powerful clues. For example, the second video of an ICE raid in the quiz came from a Reddit community for the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago. Similarly, look at who posted the video. If they have other sorts of content on their feed than just immigration raids, it lends credibility to the idea that they witnessed the raid. \"It might be easy to fake a video but it's hard to get into a time machine and build yourself ten years of history talking about Chicago hot dogs,\" Caulfield said. If you're unsure whether the video you're seeing was originally posted by the account you're watching, try a simple reverse image search on Google or another platform. Often such searches can turn up the original post, other videos from the same event or news reports that either confirm or refute the video. Both the Logan Square ICE raid and the moose eating popcorn were reported by the media at the time they happened. Conversely, identifying an AI video is often as simple as looking carefully at the account that posted it. It's common for accounts to identify their content as AI-generated in their profile description, said Koltai. Even if they don't, checking the comments can often reveal that many people believe a video is AI-generated. \n Don't feel like you have to share it, especially if you have doubts Finally, all three researchers agree that in an age where algorithms reward speed over accuracy, sharing is not really caring. \n \n\n Much of the AI content being shared online is engagement bait, said Koltai. Its creators \"often have a monetary incentive to get you to like, comment, and share, because it often results in them making more money,\" she said. When in doubt, Caulfield said, the best thing may be to wait. \"You don't necessarily have to be the first one to share this thing, you can be the person who waits,\" he said. Often within a matter of hours, a video of an event will be confirmed by corroborating videos or news reports. Many people might not think it matters whether you share an AI video of bunnies jumping on a trampoline, or a cat snatching a snake from its owner's bed, but experts agree that it does. When people are duped by AI videos, it erodes faith in the videos that matter. \n \n\n \"People are like oh is it really that big a deal?\" she said. But Koltai said everyone should be worried. \"If we are unable to tell what's real and what's unreal online? That to me is really incredibly dangerous.\" Hany Farid agrees: \"Every one of those likes, clicks, shares, engagements, you're part of the problem at this point,\" he said." ], "output": "readability/", "pwd": "/data/archive/1764521399.153363", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:32.770891+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "screenshot": [], "singlefile": [], "title": [ { "cmd": [ "/usr/bin/curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--proxy", "socks5://tor-socks-proxy:9150", "--max-time", "60", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/128.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/{VERSION} (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/)", "https://www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz" ], "cmd_version": "8.10.1", "end_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:31.950043+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "Can you spot AI videos from real ones? Take our quiz : NPR", "pwd": "/data/archive/1764521399.153363", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2025-11-30T16:50:31.896786+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "wget": [] }, "icons": null, "is_archived": true, "is_static": false, "latest": { "archive_org": "ArchiveError: Failed to find \"content-location\" URL header in Archive.org response.", "dom": "output.html", "favicon": "favicon.ico", "git": null, "media": "media/", "pdf": null, "screenshot": null, "singlefile": null, "title": "Can you spot AI videos from real ones? Take our quiz : NPR", "warc": null, "wget": null }, "link_dir": "/data/archive/1764521399.153363", "newest_archive_date": "2025-11-30T16:50:55.510491+00:00", "num_failures": 1, "num_outputs": 8, "oldest_archive_date": "2025-11-30T16:50:05.114492+00:00", "path": "/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz", "schema": "Link", "scheme": "https", "snapshot_abid": "snp_01KBATQMWVA64E098101X454S9", "snapshot_id": "355846ec-e621-44cf-8554-ce0f7a429329", "sources": [ "/data/sources/1764521398-import.txt" ], "tags": null, "tags_str": "", "timestamp": "1764521399.153363", "title": "Can you spot AI videos from real ones? Take our quiz : NPR", "url": "https://www.npr.org/2025/11/30/nx-s1-5610951/fake-ai-videos-slop-quiz" }