TikTok is being flooded with racist AI videos generated by Google's Veo 3

I really miss the time before generative images and video were a thing. We opened such a can of worms. Really seems like a "the scientists were so occupied with if they could they didn't stop to think if they should" situation. What is the actual utility of these tools again beyond putting artists out of work?

Re: TikTok is being flooded with racist AI videos generated by Google's Veo 3

#7

Post by Waterluvian » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 11:27 PM UTC

aaviator42 wrote: post #6

I really miss the time before generative images and video were a thing. We opened such a can of worms. Really seems like a "the scientists were so occupied with if they could they didn't stop to think if they should" situation. What is the actual utility of these tools again beyond putting artists out of work?

I’m old enough to remember when video killed the radio star.

Re: TikTok is being flooded with racist AI videos generated by Google's Veo 3

#8

Post by mslansn » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 11:28 PM UTC

aaviator42 wrote: post #6

I really miss the time before generative images and video were a thing. We opened such a can of worms. Really seems like a "the scientists were so occupied with if they could they didn't stop to think if they should" situation. What is the actual utility of these tools again beyond putting artists out of work?

I’ve seen lots of them which I found very very amusing. That seems good enough for me. Think about it: there are channels on YouTube and on the telly that are there just to amuse you. So a system that creates amusing videos is a net positive for the world.

Re: TikTok is being flooded with racist AI videos generated by Google's Veo 3

#9

Post by drdaeman » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 11:30 PM UTC

> nothing drives engagement on social media like anger and drama

There. It isn’t even a “real” racism, it’s more of a flamebait, where the more outrageous and deranged a take is, the more likely it would captivate attention and possibly even provoke a reaction. Most likely they primarily wanted to earn some buck from viewer engagement, and didn’t care about the ethics of it. Maybe they also had the racist agendas, maybe not - but that’s just not the core of it.

And in the same spirit, the issue is not really racism or AI videos, but perversely incentivized attention economics. It just happened to manifest this way, but it could’ve been anything else - this is merely what happened to hit some journalist mental filters (suggesting that “racism” headlines attract attention those days, and so does “AI”).

And the only low-harm way - that I can think of - how to put this genie back in the bottle is to make sure everyone is well aware about how their attention is the new currency in the modern age, and spend it wisely, being aware about the addictive and self-reinforcing nature of some systems.

Re: TikTok is being flooded with racist AI videos generated by Google's Veo 3

#10

Post by deadbabe » Wed, Jul 02, 2025, 11:30 PM UTC

aaviator42 wrote: post #6

I really miss the time before generative images and video were a thing. We opened such a can of worms. Really seems like a "the scientists were so occupied with if they could they didn't stop to think if they should" situation. What is the actual utility of these tools again beyond putting artists out of work?

Every generation has their “I miss the time before ‘thing I don’t like’ became a thing”.

In our case, it’s just generative AI.