TikTokers have created the sickening trend of using artificially-generated video clips to depict grizzly murders and other heinous, true crimes that were committed against children throughout history.
The generative artificial intelligence — different from deepfakes as they do not modify existing imagery but instead create new ones — show young children, sometimes bruised, narrate their own chilling circumstances with computer-generated voices online for clicks.
Notable murders spoken of, in first person, by CGI kids include that of Elisa Izquierdo, a 6 year old murdered by her mother.
Another video tells the story of Carl Newton Mahan, the 6-year-old Kentucky boy who shot an 8 year old in 1929.
Some videos have been viewed almost 3 million times.
Many of the clips claim that AI is used in lieu of real photos as a way of “respecting the family” of the deceased. Names are slightly modified as well in some instances.
Rolling Stone reported that famous deaths — such as that of President John F. Kennedy and George Floyd — have also made rounds on the social media. At this time, those videos have been taken down.
One account with a near 50,000 followers where these videos are popular, @truestorynow, has been banned from TikTok for violating community guidelines, according to Rolling Stone.
“They’re quite strange and creepy,” Paul Bleakley, an assistant professor in criminal justice at the University of New Haven, told the publication.
“They seem designed to trigger strong emotional reactions, because it’s the surest-fire way to get clicks and likes. It’s uncomfortable to watch, but I think that might be the point.”
Not only is the practice upsetting to many viewers, but Bleakly also warns that “this has real potential to revictimize people who have been victimized before.”
“Imagine being the parent or relative of one of these kids in these AI videos,” he said, adding that its “very sticky, murky gray area” to legally fight back against such videos.
“You go online, and in this strange, high-pitched voice, here’s an AI image [based on] your deceased child, going into very gory detail about what happened to them.”