These videos often rack up millions (if not hundreds of millions) of views. But they’re not just harmless fun. Researchers have found that these videos create harmful misconceptions about wildlife and may even be promoting the illegal pet trade. Here’s what you need to know.
What are AI generated wildlife videos?
AI-generated wildlife videos often feature unrealistic scenarios such as predators and prey “playing” together, or animals showing human behaviours. For example, you might have seen a video of a cat and a coyote roaming together, or perhaps fake videos of people hugging tigers or baby polar bears. These faux interactions pose a threat to both people and wildlife.
What is the impact of AI wildlife videos?
Researchers have found that seeing wildlife in unreal, non-threatening, and often domestic situations undermines conservation efforts. There’s already a growing disconnect between people and the natural world. These videos are creating false connections with wildlife, and show vulnerable species as much more abundant and approachable than they actually are.
Not only can this reduce the urgency people feel toward protecting these species and their habitats, but it can also drive the demand for “exotic” species as pets. By portraying vulnerable wildlife as gentle and friendly, this increases the desire to own wild animals and can inspire real-life “copycat” behaviours. This endangers both the animals and people involved.
How should we respond to AI videos?
So, what should we do? First, make sure to follow real accounts, sharing real stories about wildlife and their conservation (like us!). Next, no matter how cute or harmless these videos seem, don’t share or engage with them. Lastly, the researchers recommend media literacy to help people question and verify the information they’re seeing online.
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