Did Will Smith Use AI To Fake Concert Crowds? It's More Complicated Than You Think

Will Smith came under fire this week after he uploaded a short video to Instagram and YouTube Shorts showing the crowds at some of his recent concerts. Some fans quickly noticed inconsistencies in the clip that suggested Will Smith's team might have used generative AI to make a fake video. TechCrunch and blogger Andy Baio have pointed out that the clip Will Smith uploaded does feature signs of a video created or altered with AI. However, the crowds depicted in the clip are real, as are many of the AI-altered signs and individuals depicted within.

The explanation seems to be even more complicated than Will Smith resorting to AI to create videos showing fake crowds. Baio conducted a detailed analysis that suggests Will Smith's team might have used AI to turn photos from his recent concerts into videos. Such products are readily available to the public. In fact, Google recently announced a new Veo 3 photo-to-video capability that allows users to turn any static image into a video.

However, there's another element that might work against Will Smith in this AI controversy. Google recently ran an experiment for YouTube Shorts in which it used AI (machine learning) to improve the quality of Shorts without asking the creator for permission. People complained the videos looked like they were AI generated. It seems that Will Smith's YouTube Shorts clip that attracted criticism from fans this week might have been a victim of this experiment.

"My favorite part of the tour is seeing you all up close," Will Smith says in the clip's caption. "Thank you for seeing me too." The video is just one minute long, showing the artist singing during his European tour in front of large crowds. The clip focuses on the fans and some of the signs they displayed. One of those signs shows a man saying that Will Smith's music helped him survive cancer. But the man's face looks plasticky on YouTube, and one of his hands seems to merge with the hand of a woman in front of him. A different sign shows illegible words that seem to be generated with AI. Another sign saying "Lov U Fresh Prince" turns into "Lov U Fr6sh Crince" later in the clip.

These details prompted backlash. Fans thought Will Smith faked the crowds at his shows, including the signs they displayed. However, Andy Baio did a great job analyzing Will Smith's social media content and attempted to explain what happened. The signs are real. The man who claimed Will Smith's song helped him cure cancer was there. The woman in front of him was holding the sign with him. The "Lov U" sign appeared in photos the singer posted on his social media channels before the clip was shared.

Baio speculates that Will Smith's team used AI to transform some of these photos into videos and then merged them into a longer clip. This led to unwanted visual effects that are telltale signs of AI use. However, Baio says that the YouTube Shorts AI experiment might also be at fault here, as Google automatically enhanced the clip uploaded to Shorts, making it look like even more like a fully AI-generated video. 

The same clip uploaded to Instagram looks more natural, as machine learning wasn't used to enhance details and smooth out faces. Baio posted a side-by-side comparison on YouTube that makes it easier to see the differences on Instagram and YouTube Shorts:

Plausible excuses aside, the backlash is understandable, considering the increasing amount of AI-generated content posted online. Will Smith has not denied the use of AI in these promotional clips. As a reminder, not all generative AI tools feature visible watermarks to let viewers know that the content was created with AI. Google did not disclose the YouTube experiment until people complained. Even Netflix used AI in a TV show without disclosing the practice beforehand.