As Jackie leans toward the nest, Chaya curiously places one foot, then the other, on Jackie.
With Big Bear Lake gleaming in the distance, he lifts each leg in a kneading motion – giving the feel of a bald eagle massage.
“Somehow, this says everything about their bond,” the caption reads 15 second video Posted on Facebook.
It looks soft. It feels real.
It’s not like that.
The clip is AI-generated.
Jackie and the Shadow – made world famous 24 hour livestream – Animals aren’t the only ones inaccurately depicted in deepfakes. AI wildlife videos have flooded social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, garnering millions of views and likes. Some are whimsical, like a handful of rabbits bouncing on a trampoline. Others adopt a more menacing tone, such as Jaguar encounters dog In the snowy backyard.
Far from benign, some experts say the videos could distort the way people see and even interact with wildlife – potentially leading to dangerous encounters. They can also weaken the audience Growing desire to live in harmony with nature To escape the frantic rhythm of daily life. Repeated exposure may occur Trust in media and institutions in general decreasesWith a Reddit user Announcement“Can’t even watch videos of real animals because 90% of them are AI.” This also has legal implications.
Deception works because the depictions are often surreal. Even a producer for Dodo, an animal-focused media outlet, admitted to falling in love Jumping rabbit. Often the videos appear to be snatched from trail or security cameras, giving the impression of authenticity. Videos can help to attract people’s attention in a competitive economy win looks and likesPotentially increasing ad revenue for those posting them.
Megan Brief, digital marketing coordinator for ecotourism company Natural Habitat Adventures, recently returned from Svalbard, a remote Norwegian archipelago teeming with polar bears and walruses.
Their social media feeds are awash with video after video of polar bear rescues, as fishermen or scientists pull a cold, struggling baby polar bear onto a ship. People on the boat took selfies with the cub before reuniting it with its mother.
She knew they were fake because she was well aware of the behavior of the snow-white hunters, who fiercely protect the cubs. As the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warns, these “large, powerful carnivores” can easily injure or kill people. It would also be illegal to interfere in this.
But thousands of commentators took what they saw at face value.
(Photo illustration by Jim Cook/Los Angeles Times; Source Photo/Getty Images)
Brief, who is also a wildlife photographer, said, “It shows that you can be in such close proximity to wildlife that not only is it dangerous for you, but it’s also dangerous for the animals.” social media is full of ai animal rescue All kinds.
“It’s everyone’s dream to be at one with all the animals and wildlife,” he adds, “but you have to respect their habitat and their behavior and give them the space they need.”
On the other hand, he said the videos may also perpetuate myths that predators like wolves and mountain lions are more dangerous than they actually are. It’s easy to see how the videos could provoke heated debate over the management of such animals in California and beyond.
In a paper Published in “Conservation Biology” last September, researchers said the videos may trick people into thinking animals are more abundant, or less endangered, than they are. As a result they may donate or volunteer less.
“If the public is unable to distinguish between real threats to biodiversity and imaginary ones, the perceived urgency to take action may be reduced,” the researchers wrote.
Jenny Voisard, media and website manager for Friends of Big Bear Valley, a nonprofit that operates cameras trained on Jackie and Shadow, said her inbox is filled with complaints about the AI content. Griefers are nothing new – nonprofits have been around a long time fought against fake accounts – But they have evolved with technology.
People who follow the beloved Eagles are given more content about them by algorithms, and he said that AI rises to the top of the feed. (This seems to explain why this reporter is often served fake stuff when he opens Facebook.)
Voisard said, “People get very upset when they see someone portraying Jackie and Shadow in an unnatural or inaccurate manner, or when it feels like they could be in danger.” Some clips showed owls and crows attacking the couple, particularly angering fans.
The nonprofit recently trademarked its name and is in the process of copyrighting its livestream. He said the point is to protect everything they create, like a detailed log of what Mal and Eagle are doing, from counterfeiters.
However, ownership is risky in the age of AI. Voisard said that his livestream could be copyrighted because it is not just a fixed camera; Humans operate it and make choices like zooming in.
Georgetown Law professor Cristelia Garcia said such creative choices give livestream operators a good copyright claim. Whether something violates it or not is another matter.
That said, if someone asks a big-time model to make a three-minute video featuring the Eagles without using copyrighted material, no harm, no foul. But if they feed the nonprofit’s footage to an AI program and ask it to manipulate it, it could lead to an infringement claim.
But will it be worth the fight? “Copyright litigation is really expensive and very unpredictable,” said Garcia, who focuses on copyright law. He suspects that a nonprofit would only be willing to take the risk if there was a lot of money at stake.
As far as concerns about misinformation are concerned, “We don’t really have any legal recourse, like, ‘You got fooled,'” she said. Famous people enjoy some protection over their name, image and likeness, but famous animals don’t.
Shadow “Massage” Jackie’s spoof video presents the Eagles in a positive light. It certainly continues the bird love story that the Friends of Big Bear Valley described in their post.
Yet Voisard believes people are increasingly turning to livestreams of animals to avoid artificiality. The irony is that AI can lead people closer to true nature because it cannot replicate it.
“Livestream isn’t in nature, but it’s the closest thing a lot of people get,” he said. “Being outside is the best thing for us and our health and our well-being and making that connection. To me, AI is not that.”
