By August Graham
A channel on social media platform TikTok (archived link here) charts the journey of a migrant on a small boat and his and others鈥 reception in the UK where they are given free food, accommodation and phones.
The videos on the channel appear to be AI-generated.
On four days between June 9 and June 13, the channel 鈥渕igrantvlog鈥 uploaded 22 videos to the social media platform.
At the time of writing, the most-watched video had around 374,000 views on the platform. In total, five of the videos had more than 100,000 views. The channel had 1,647 followers and more than 11,000 likes.
Comments on the videos show some viewers realised that the videos are AI-generated. However, others seemed to be reacting as if they are real.
What evidence is there that the videos are AI?
There is clear evidence of AI generation in many of the videos. Most tellingly, several of the videos have watermarks for Veo 鈥 an AI video generation tool.
One video posted with the caption 鈥5 star meorot we going鈥 includes a section at around seven seconds where a man on the right of the frame seems to momentarily lose his arm. This video is one of several with a Veo watermark. The watermark appears in the bottom-right corner, where it might be obscured from some viewers by TikTok鈥檚 display icons.
Between that video and another posted later the same day, the main protagonist鈥檚 voice seems to change. The second video includes scrambled text on the front of a building, a hallmark sign of AI. At around five seconds, a man appears to pull a large camera out of his crotch, while at seven seconds a person sat in a chair appears to become translucent.
Another video shows a protest with men waving flags. The man behind the right shoulder of the person filming moves his arm in an unnatural way and the flag in his hand seems to appear and disappear.
A video shows a man running with a group while holding a burning Union flag. The flag is on fire, however the material does not appear to be blackening, and the way the men behind the protagonist interact seems almost ghost-like as they move through each other in unnatural ways.
In a video in which the man says 鈥渢hank you British taxpayers for feeding us this good food鈥, a fork can be seen appearing seemingly out of thin air in the background while a man appears to pass a plate through his own hand.
TikTok channel (archived)
Video titled 鈥渕oney money great britin鈥 uploaded on June 9 (archived post and screenshot of comments)
Video titled 鈥渉alal only鈥 uploaded on June 13 (archived post and screenshot of comments)
Google 鈥 Veo (archived)
Video titled 鈥5 star meorot we going鈥 uploaded on June 9 (archived)
Video titled 鈥渢hank u British tax payers鈥 uploaded on June 9 (archived)
Video titled 鈥渃ontrol the enemy鈥 uploaded on June 9 (archived)
Video titled 鈥済oodnight britian reform suck鈥 uploaded on June 10 (archived)
Video titled 鈥済ood food buffay鈥 uploaded on June 10 (archived)