There’s a term for artificially generated content that permeates online spaces — creators call it AI slop, and when generative AI first emerged back in late 2022, that was true. AI photos and videos used to be painfully, obviously fake. The lighting was off, the physics were unrealistic, people had too many fingers or limbs or odd body proportions, and textures appeared fuzzy or glossy, even in places where it didn’t make sense. They just didn’t look real.

Many of you probably remember the nightmare fuel that was the early video of Will Smith eating spaghetti. It’s terrifying.

This isn’t the case any more. In just two short years, AI videos have become convincingly realistic to the point that deepfakes — content that perfectly mimics real people, places, and events — are now running rampant. For just one quick example of how far AI videos have come, check out Will Smith eating spaghetti, then and now.

None of it is real unless it is verifiable, and that is becoming increasingly hard to do.

Even the Trump administration recently rallied around AI-generated content, using it as a political tool to poke fun at the left and its policies. The latest entry portrayed AI Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero while standing beside a miffed Chuck Schumer who is speaking a little more honestly than usual, a telltale sign that the video is fake.

While some AI-generated videos on the internet are simple memes posted in good fun, there is a darker side to AI content that makes the internet an increasingly unreliable place for truth, facts, and reality.

How to tell if an online video is fake

AI videos in 2025 are more convincing than ever. Not only do most AI video platforms pass the spaghetti-eating Turing test, but they have also solved many of the issues that used to run rampant (too many fingers, weird physics, etc.). The good news is that there are still a few ways to tell an AI video from a real one.

At least for now.

First, most videos created with OpenAI Sora, Grok Imagine, and Gemini Veo have clear watermarks stamped directly on the content. I emphasize “most,” because last month, violent Sora-generated videos cropped up online that didn’t have a watermark, suggesting that either the marks were manually removed or there’s a bug in Sora’s platform.

Your second-best defense against AI-generated content is your gut. We’re still early enough in the AI video race that many of them still look “off.” They have a strange filter-like sheen to them that’s reminiscent of watching content in a dream. Natural facial expressions and voice inflections continue to be a problem. AI videos also still have trouble with tedious or more complex physics (especially fluid motions) and special effects (explosions, crashing waves, etc.).

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Photo by: Nano Calvo/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

At the same time, other videos, like this clip of Neil deGrasse Tyson, are shockingly realistic. Even the finer details are nearly perfect, from the background in Tyson’s office to his mannerisms and speech patterns — all of it feels authentic.

Now watch the video again. Look closely at what happens after Tyson reveals the truth. It’s clear that the first half of the video is fake, but it’s harder to tell if the second half is actually real. A notable red flag is the way the video floats on top of his phone as he pulls it away from the camera. That could just be a simple editing trick, or it could be a sign that the entire thing is a deepfake. The problem is that there’s no way to know for sure.

Why deepfakes are so dangerous

Deepfakes pose a real problem to society, and no one is ready for the aftermath. According to Statista, U.S. adults spend more than 60% of their daily screen time watching video content. If the content they consume isn’t real, this can greatly impact their perception of real-world events, warp their expectations around life, love, and happiness, facilitate political deception, chip away at mental health, and more.

Truth only exists if the content we see is real. False fabrications can easily twist facts, spread lies, and sow doubt, all of which will destabilize social media, discredit the internet at large, and upend society overall.

Deepfakes, however, are real, at least in the sense that they exist. Even worse, they are becoming more prevalent, and they are outright dangerous. They are a threat because they are extremely convincing and almost impossible to discern from reality. Not only can a deepfake be used to show a prominent figure (politicians, celebrities, etc.) doing or saying bad things that didn’t actually happen, but deepfakes can also be used as an excuse to cover up something a person actually did on film. The damage goes both ways, obfuscating the truth, ruining reputations, and cultivating chaos.

Soon, videos like the Neil deGrasse Tyson clip will become the norm, and the consequences will be utterly dire. You’ll see presidents declare war on other countries without uttering a real word. Foreign nations will drop bombs on their opponents without firing a shot, and terrorists will commit atrocities on innocent people that don’t exist. All of it is coming, and even though none of it will be real, we won’t be able to tell the difference between truth and lies. The internet — possibly even the world — will descend into turmoil.

Don’t believe everything you see online

Okay, so the internet has never been a bastion of truth. Since the dawn of dial-up, different forms of deception have crept throughout, bending facts or outright distorting the truth wholesale. This time, it’s a little different. Generative AI doesn’t just twist narratives to align with an agenda. It outright creates them, mimicking real life so convincingly that we’re compelled to believe what we see.

From here on out, it’s safe to assume that nothing on the internet is real — not politicians spewing nonsense, not war propaganda from some far-flung country, not even the adorable animal videos on your Facebook feed (sorry, Grandma!). None of it is real unless it is verifiable, and that is becoming increasingly hard to do in the age of generative AI. The open internet we knew is dead. The only thing you can trust today is what you see in person with your own eyes and the stories published by trusted sources online. Take everything else with a heaping handful of salt.

This is why reputable news outlets will be even more important in the AI future. If anyone can be trusted to publish real, authentic, truthful content, it should be our media. As for who in the press is telling the truth, Glenn Beck’s “liar, liar” test is a good place to start.

​Tech 

A horrific incident on the el train in Chicago on Monday has led to a woman in critical condition with severe burns.

Police say that a 45-year-old male had a “verbal altercation” with the 27-year-old woman before the alleged attack, but a source who spoke to CWB Chicago contradicted the account.

The arson incident would be his 23rd arrest. Some of those arrests include other incidents of arson.

The source said the attack was unprovoked and completely random.

A person of interest was apprehended by police, but he has not been charged yet.

The source told CWB Chicago that the woman was paying attention to her cell phone on a Blue Line train at about 9:26 p.m. when the man doused her with a liquid from a bottle. She tried to run away, but he was able to catch up to her and light her on fire, according to the source. The man was also lit on fire during the altercation.

The woman was transported to Stroger Hospital in critical condition.

CWB Chicago reported that the suspect had previously been charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, but a judge denied a request to keep him in custody and ordered 24/7 electronic monitoring instead.

Three weeks later, another judge modified the terms to allow him to leave his home outside daytime hours, which includes the time of the alleged assault.

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The report also said that the suspect had been arrested 22 times since 2016 by the Chicago Police Department alone. The arson incident would be his 23rd arrest. Some of those arrests include other incidents of arson.

A source told CWB Chicago that no one on the train stepped in to help the woman after she was lit on fire. A witness also described the man as black.

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The chaos, harassment, and violence that unfolded at a recent TPUSA event at UC Berkeley were so bad that the Department of Justice and FBI are now investigating.

“Antifa is an existential threat to our nation,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X following the event. “The violent riots at UC Berkeley last night are under full investigation by the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force. We will continue to spare no expense unmasking all who commit and orchestrate acts of political violence.”

Alongside comedian Rob Schneider, author Frank Turek hosted the Turning Point event that packed the university’s Zellerbach Hall — and he’s telling BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey what really happened.

“Antifa was there, obviously. They were hurling insults and slurs at the people trying to get in. They set off fireworks, which sounded like gunfire, so people were scrambling,” Turek explains.

“The university police did not keep the walkway free to allow people to get in. So people were spat on, people were harassed, and they were not only harassed getting in, Allie, they were harassed getting out,” he continues.

“Most of these people were probably George Soros-funded, you know, liberal agitators,” he adds.

And these protesters were vile, shouting disturbed things like “f**k your dead homie” to mock the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

“Isn’t it ironic, Allie, that these people who say they’re fighting for inclusion, tolerance, and diversity will not include you and will not tolerate you for holding a diverse view?” Turek asks. “And they claim that we are the fascists.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Liberals in the United States keep pretending to “resist” a democratically elected president they smear as an “authoritarian.” Meanwhile, real resistance fighters push back against a real authoritarian regime — in Iran.

For well-to-do white liberals, “resistance” amounts to a bumper sticker, a hashtag, a chant, and a safe protest march. No American faces arrest for opposing President Trump or his policies. Police never cracked down on thousands of No Kings demonstrators. The government never shut down the internet. No American risks execution for demanding new leadership.

Partisan voices push the false claim that Americans must choose between sending troops or doing nothing. Anyone who actually listens to Iranian dissidents knows better.

Iranian dissidents face all of that and more. Their resistance carries the cost of blood, freedom, and life.

Last weekend, I saw real resistance up close. More than 1,000 Iranian dissidents gathered in Washington, D.C., for the Free Iran Convention to plan for a future free from the mullahs’ rule. Panels featuring scholars, women, young activists, and even voices from inside Iran painted a picture of a regime on the brink.

As the regime clings to power, it leans harder on censorship, torture, and public executions to keep Iranians living in fear.

This crackdown unfolds against an economy collapsing under its own weight. More than 80% of Iranians live below the poverty line. Inflation punishes the entire country. Unemployment keeps climbing.

The harsher the repression, the more Iranians recognize the only path forward is regime change.

In 2018, 2019, and 2022, Iranians took to the streets in nationwide uprisings. Thousands died. Tens of thousands went to jail. As 2025 unfolds, the question no longer asks if another uprising comes — only when.

The West now faces its own question: Will we be ready to support the Iranian people when that moment arrives?

Here at home, partisan voices push the false claim that Americans must choose between sending troops or doing nothing. Anyone who actually listens to Iranian dissidents knows better.

A third option exists — the one championed by Maryam Rajavi and the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a coalition that rejects both the shah’s dictatorship and the mullahs’ theocracy.

Rajavi, elected by the NCRI as president for the transitional period after the ayatollah’s ouster, puts it plainly:

Neither appeasement nor war, but regime change at the hands of the Iranian people and their organized, legitimate, and just resistance. We do not seek money or weapons. We only ask that this resistance be recognized.

This resistance already lives and breathes inside Iran. The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran stands as the largest and best-organized opposition movement in the country. Resistance units operate in all 31 provinces. They have carried out thousands of attacks on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij — the regime’s main instruments of suppression.

These units organize protests, strikes, and anti-regime campaigns. Their intelligence network exposed Tehran’s clandestine nuclear program and uncovered terrorist plots funded by the regime.

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Photo Illustration by Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The cost has been staggering. Since 1981, the regime has killed more than 100,000 PMOI/MEK members. Countless others have been imprisoned, tortured, or targeted in state-funded smear campaigns.

The idea of negotiating with the Iranian regime belongs to the realm of fantasy. No meaningful difference separates so-called hard-liners from so-called moderates. Both factions produce economic ruin at home and terrorism abroad. Young Iranians see the truth plainly.

During the Free Iran convention, Seena Saiedian — an Iranian American and law student at the University of Virginia — captured the desperation:

The landscape for the youth in Iran is bleak: hyperinflation, high unemployment, censorship, repression. Iranian youth see no hope for moderating or reforming the current regime. By every metric, life gets worse. The root cause of every challenge Iran’s youth face is the current regime.

The Iranian dictatorship will collapse. History guarantees that. The only question: Will the United States shorten the Iranian people’s suffering or extend the mullahs’ reign of terror?

If we want a secular, democratic Iran — one capable of fostering peace in the region — we must say clearly that no negotiation can salvage the current regime. No deal will reform it. No diplomatic fantasy can tame it.

We must tell the Iranian people and the brave resistance units operating inside the country that the United States stands ready to recognize their efforts and their right to chart a future for a free Iran.

The United States doesn’t need to send money, weapons, or troops. The regime is already on the brink of collapse. The Iranian people are already mobilizing. They need moral clarity from the West — not silence, appeasement, or more excuses.

Supporting freedom against tyranny is the American way. It always has been. And standing with the people of Iran honors the moral foundations that built this nation.

​Iran, Iran freedom fighters, Free iran, Washington dc, No kings, Opinion & analysis, Resistance, Mullahs, Ayatollah ali khamenei, Terrorism, Nuclear weapons, Tyranny