I’m tired of being hypervigilant online

Now that the dust has settled, the last few weeks got me thinking that while I’ve never been much of a soccer fan, one thing I enjoyed from this summer’s World Cup were the posts of international travelers in the U.S. experiencing American culture.

Usually the butt of jokes, I found TikToks, X posts, and more lauding the U.S.: Brits salivating at American-style BBQ, scenic photos of Buc-ee’s gas stations, and a viral tweet about a Japanese tourist gobsmacked by a complimentary basket of chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant. The latter went especially viral with 159K likes, and the phrase “we have not earned these” echoed through the internet. I chuckled, and moved on.

But then, one of my favorite podcasts broke the illusion. In ICYMI’s episode “Your Favorite World Cup Moment Might Be Fake,” host Kate Lindsay and writer Will Oremus dug into some of these viral posts to reveal that many of these seemingly heartwarming viral moments likely aren’t real.

In Oremus’ Atlantic article “The Feel-Good Story of the World Cup Is Too Good to Be True,” he interviewed the “chips and salsa guy” who confessed that the stories weren’t true. And the more he looked into the content, the more he realized that much of it was AI-generated content.

I don’t want to say I was heartbroken; the post wasn’t life-changing in any way, but it did rattle me a little bit. Here was a post that I read and took at face value, only to find out that it was another lesson in the classic internet adage: “don’t believe everything you read online.”

I was rattled not because it was fake, but because I didn’t catch it. I have long prided myself on my media literacy and my ability to find good sources, verify posts, and be careful with my language in order to ensure that I can accurately reflect reality and the truth. Part of my job here is doing just that, and I feel like I failed at some of the core tenets of journalism, media studies, and media literacy.

Here’s the thing, though: I wasn’t alone. The journalists from ICYMI initially missed this. Outlets from the New York Post to Barstool Sports posted about it, sans correction. And over 150K X users probably had no idea that this creator never had this experience.

A New Landscape

This isn’t a new phenomenon, but with recent innovations in AI and their ability to replicate this content on a more massive scale, more and more feeds are getting filled with fake content.

^ Creators are gamifying the “Is it AI?” question, comparing real footage to AI counterparts.

And they’re learning to cover their tracks. AI can produce long-form content that can dive deeper into the art of storytelling, and for those not well-versed in the language or visual motifs of LLMs, they may never know the difference.

As more opportunities arise with the monetization of content on the internet, people will create fake content to drum up engagement to make money, regardless of whether it degrades broader internet culture.

I see this every day; most of the time, I see a blue checkmark next to a name on X and the same stiff writing style replete with overabundant indentation and I immediately scroll. But there are times I still sometimes get caught up in it before realizing it’s fake. At this point, most of my For You page on X is AI-generated writing, and the more I use TikTok, the more fake profiles and videos I see.

I’m getting tired of it. Even for content I see online that I really like, the question lingers in the back of my mind: “Is this even real or is this another fake profile using AI?” The initial feeling of joy when seeing a video or story has now been replaced with dread and annoyance.

And it appears that content creators who don’t even use AI are being affected by this as well: in a recent poll from the embedded Substack, 56% of poll respondents claimed that they have altered their writing style in an effort to not sound like AI.

It also begs the question: does it make me a Debbie Downer to point it out? When my dad sends me a cute video of a supposed rescue otter, actually multiple videos strung together by different creators or generated by AI, do I tell him? Or do I say, “that’s cute” and move on?

How do we interrogate what we see?

^ Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard from 1982’s “Blade Runner,” who carried out tests for replicants. Luckily, we have less-complicated AI detection software.

As AI gets better at making seamless content, it becomes more integral for media strategists, journalists, and culture experts to know the signs of fake stories. So, here are some takeaways I’ve had from this experience:

Continue to know the signs of fake content: As I mentioned previously, I found that excessive use of indentation, stifled language, and a lot of adverbs and adjectives are often signs of AI writing. For non-AI content, I find that emotional, heart-tugging video content is usually one of the prime ways for content creators to pass off edited/stolen content as their own. You’re too distracted by the cuteness of the animals and the sadness of the story to notice that it’s an entirely different animal or setting.

For AI-generated videos or pictures, most AI videos cap out at eight seconds, so if you have multiple short videos strung together, there’s a good chance it’s AI. AI still has issues with lighting, words, and backgrounds, so these are good ways to figure out if it’s real. The audio also has an almost hollow sound.

Use AI detection software: While some have doubted the efficacy of these tools, it’s a relatively easy step to incorporate if you become invested in a story. You can also reverse image search or check the media’s metadata, which will tell you when/where the image or video was taken.

Lean into curated content: While most applications or websites rely on algorithms to keep audiences locked in, you have the power to curate your own feed. Skip the “for you” tab and find creators you can validate yourself.

Touch grass: Sometimes, you just have to take a break from the screen and touch some grass. Lean into analog hobbies, go to a library, hang out with friends, or go meet new people at events in your community. It might sound counterintuitive, but your ability to parse digital culture can come from the “white space” you find outside of it, and how can you tell what’s real and what’s fake if you spend all your time hiding from the real world? Seek out real people; they might have the stories you are looking for.

This is also a lesson for platforms and brands: Lean into real creators and elevate their stories. Label AI content. Look for quality over quantity.

In a time where artists and creators are getting pushed out due to AI and fake content flooding feeds, it’s an integral moment to support them and be more intentional about the content we consume (or what we choose not to consume).

So, send a like, share their work, and maybe get out IRL and share stories over a basket of chips and salsa (or three).