Will Smiths AI Video Signals The End Of Reality
It’s a fascinating irony that Will Smith’s reputation is now being questioned over an AI act he allegedly did, especially since AI first captured the public's imagination with something he never did at all.
From Spaghetti to Scrutiny
You’ve likely heard about the controversy surrounding Will Smith's live performance video for his new song “You Can Make It.” The video, showing emotional crowds with signs of support, has been accused of using AI, with viewers pointing out strange distortions and unnatural smoothness.
This is a far cry from early 2023, when an AI-generated video of Smith eating spaghetti went viral. Back then, we were amazed by what the technology could do. Smith never touched that spaghetti, but the world was suddenly fascinated with AI. Now, just two years later, Smith is allegedly using AI to boost his image and is facing backlash for it.
The technique in question is likely “upscaling,” an AI-powered enhancement that can digitally add or amplify crowd excitement. This means people might appear to be crying when they weren't, holding signs they never raised, or might not even be real people at all.
The Telltale Signs of AI
The video was intended to convey overwhelming fan support, with Smith’s social media post reading, “My favorite part of tour is seeing you all up close. Thank you for seeing me too.” However, internet detectives quickly spotted the classic signs of AI manipulation, such as blended hands and nonsensical inverted words on signs, turning the intended message on its head.
Many saw this as a uniquely cringeworthy moment for a major star. To fake the adoration you claim to receive seems desperate. But we should pause the schadenfreude, because this incident is not an outlier—it’s a preview.
Why This Is Bigger Than One Video
Influencers and marketing professionals have been quietly using AI upscaling for years to enhance their content. As the tools become more sophisticated, this practice will only become more common. The current flaws, or “hallucinations,” will be ironed out with better models and more computing power. The conversation will soon shift from “Remember when Will Smith used cringey AI?” to “Remember when we could still spot AI fakes?”
Experts agree that we are only months or a few years away from a point where we can no longer distinguish synthetic video from real footage. The Smith video happened to be released in this awkward transitional phase: good enough for someone to use, but not good enough to escape detection. That window is closing fast.
The Coming Collapse of Visual Trust
The most significant consequence of this new synthetic age is that video will cease to be a reliable measure of truth. We’ve already learned to be skeptical of text and images, but video has remained our last bastion of objective evidence. When that falls, the ripple effects will be enormous.
Publicists will struggle to convince us that a client’s incredible stunt is real, and brand managers will have a nightmare trying to disprove a fabricated scandal. News organizations, whose value often lies in exclusive video evidence, will face a crisis of credibility. Even if they obtain genuine footage, who will believe it?
The impact on democracy could be even more severe. Hany Farid, a UC Berkeley professor specializing in digital forensics, states, “It will get to the point where it will be exceedingly difficult to tell AI content without real interventions… if pretty much anybody can create content that is this deceptive, we are in trouble, as a democracy and a society.”
A New Role for Trusted Sources
However, there is a potential upside. In a world without a trustworthy visual medium, we will have to rely on other methods to verify facts, primarily the source of the information. This could lead to a resurgence of trust in established, human-led news brands. When we can no longer trust the medium, we will have to find a media we can believe in.
The final irony rests with the man at the center of this storm. From The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to King Richard, Will Smith built a career on the power of images. In what can only be called The Will Smith Paradox, he now personifies a trend that may lead us to never trust images again.
