In recent days, videos generated by artificial intelligence have surfaced online purporting to show dramatic scenes from the Iran-Israel conflict, including an AI-generated woman reporting from a burning prison in Tehran and fake footage of high-rise buildings reduced to rubble in Tel Aviv. Other fabricated visuals depict a downed Israeli military aircraft.
These clips, some which have racked up millions of views on platforms including X and TikTok, are the latest in a growing pattern of AI-generated videos that spread during major events.
Researchers at Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub told CBS News that some of the content is being amplified on X by a coordinated network of accounts promoting Iranian opposition messaging — with the goal of undermining confidence in the Iranian government.
Fabricated videos
On Monday, Israel carried out strikes on several sites in Iran, including the notorious Evin Prison. Within minutes of the attack, a video began circulating on X and other social media platforms showing an explosion at the entrance. The video is grainy, black-and-white and appears to be security camera footage.
But several visual anomalies indicate the footage may have been created using artificial intelligence, experts say, including an incorrect sign above the door and inconsistencies with the explosion.
Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-founder of AI detection startup GetReal Labs, told CBS News he believes the video may have been generated by an AI image-to-video tool.
Farid said recent advancements in technology have helped lead to more realistic-looking videos with easier ways to create and share them quickly.
"A year ago it was [that] you could make a single image that was pretty photo realistic," Farid said. "Now it's full blown video with explosions, with what looks like handheld mobile device imaging."
The video had been posted on X within minutes of the June 23 Israeli attack on the facility by an account that "bears marks of being inauthentic," according to Media Forensics Hub researchers.
Iranian and Israeli officials have not commented on the authenticity of the video.
Darren Linvill, co-director of the Media Forensics Hub, told CBS News another video, which depicted an AI-generated reporter outside the prison, is the "perfect example" of a coordinated network using AI to circulate false information to wider audiences.
"It isn't doing anything that one couldn't do with previous technology, it's just doing it all cheaper, faster, and at greater scale," Linvill said. It's not clear who is behind the videos, Linvill said.
Social media platforms' responses
When asked about the AI-generated Iran-Israel videos on their platform, a TikTok spokesperson told CBS News the platform does not allow harmful misinformation or AI-generated content of fakes authoritative sources or crisis events, and has removed some of these videos.
A spokesperson for X referred CBS News to their Community Notes feature, and said some of the AI-generated video posts have had Community Notes added to help combat the false information.
As for how to avoid falling prey to videos created with AI, Farid said, "Stop getting your news from social media, particularly on breaking events like this."
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