'Cheapfake' AI Celeb Videos Are Rage-Baiting People on YouTube (wired.com)
(Friday August 15, 2025 @05:21PM (msmash)
from the rage-baiting-as-a-service dept.)
- Reference: 0178687352
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/08/15/154241/cheapfake-ai-celeb-videos-are-rage-baiting-people-on-youtube
- Source link: https://www.wired.com/story/cheapfake-ai-celeb-videos-are-rage-baiting-people-on-youtube/
WIRED identified 120 YouTube channels [1]creating AI-generated celebrity confrontation/rage-baiting videos using still images and artificial voiceovers (rather than deepfake technology). One channel, Talk Show Gold, accumulated 88,000 subscribers with a fake Mark Wahlberg and Joy Behar confrontation that drew 460,000 views. YouTube removed 37 flagged channels following WIRED's inquiry, including Celebrity Central and United News.
The platform updated its policies on July 15 requiring disclosure when content shows real people doing things they didn't do. University of Bristol cognitive psychologist Simon Clark characterized the videos as "cheapfakes" that exploit emotional triggers despite their unsophisticated production. Most channels operate from outside the United States and display signs of coordinated content farming operations.
[1] https://www.wired.com/story/cheapfake-ai-celeb-videos-are-rage-baiting-people-on-youtube/
The platform updated its policies on July 15 requiring disclosure when content shows real people doing things they didn't do. University of Bristol cognitive psychologist Simon Clark characterized the videos as "cheapfakes" that exploit emotional triggers despite their unsophisticated production. Most channels operate from outside the United States and display signs of coordinated content farming operations.
[1] https://www.wired.com/story/cheapfake-ai-celeb-videos-are-rage-baiting-people-on-youtube/
Ragebait is facinating. (Score:2)
One thing that is cool about the interesting times we live in is that you can see bad actors exploit human psychology in really powerful ways. I myself fall for ragebait far, far more than a lot of other types of attempted bait like - advertisements, false promises of riches or enticing images of intersting things that don't really exist.
I don't particularly like falling for ragebait but I do find it interesting and I look forward with dread/facination for the next ways human psychology is exploited in the