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AI-generated videos were clogging social media feeds on Monday as Hurricane Melissa surged towards Jamaica, diverting attention from critical safety information about the massive Category 5 storm. Agence France-Presse surfaced dozens of fakes – most bearing watermarks for OpenAI’s text-to-video model Sora – as Melissa was set to pummel the Caribbean island with violent winds and heavy rains. The videos depicted a range of fabricated situations, from dramatic newscasts and shots of severe flooding to images of sharks in the water as well as poignant scenes of human suffering. Others appeared to show locals – often voiced with strong Jamaican accents that seemed aimed at reinforcing stereotypes – partying, boating, jet skiing, swimming or otherwise minimising the threat of what forecasters have warned could be the island’s most violent weather on record. Senator Dana Morris Dixon, Jamaica’s information minister, said she and other ministers were jointly taking part in a Monday press briefing to give “correct information” about the approaching monster storm. “I am in so many WhatsApp groups and I see all of these videos coming. Many of them are fake,” Dixon said. “And so we urge you to please listen to the official channels.” Even ostensibly innocuous fakes can contribute to drowning out important safety alerts or cause viewers to underestimate the danger of severe storm events, experts said. The clips Agence France-Presse identified spread primarily on TikTok, where only some carried a label despite the platform’s policy requiring users to disclose realistic AI-generated content. Fake content undermines the seriousness of the message from the government to be prepared Amy McGovern, meteorology professor at University of Oklahoma TikTok appeared to remove more than two dozen such videos as well as multiple accounts dedicated to sharing them after Agence France-Presse flagged them to the platform. A few other examples were found circulating on Facebook and Instagram, even though parent company Meta’s policies say labels are also mandated for photorealistic videos created with AI. “This storm is a huge storm that is likely to cause catastrophic damage and fake content undermines the seriousness of the message from the government to be prepared,” said Amy McGovern, a University of Oklahoma meteorology professor whose research has focused on using AI to improve extreme weather forecasting. “Eventually such fake content will lead to loss of life and property,” she told Agence France-Presse. Hany Farid, co-founder of the cybersecurity company GetReal Security and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said the hurricane-related AI content underscores how new text-to-video models have “accelerated the spread of convincing fakes”. The apps allow users to create clips featuring hyperrealistic human likenesses. Agence France-Presse reached out to OpenAI for comment but did not get an immediate response. Many viewers seemed unaware the images were AI-generated, despite the Sora watermark, a review by Agence France-Presse of the videos’ comment sections found. “God please protect grandpa’s home and mango tree,” one commenter wrote under an AI video on TikTok of an old man yelling at the hurricane that he would not “move for a little breeze”. Another user asked him to post more updates on the state of his property. A rush of similar prayers was offered under a different video that portrayed a woman crying for help while holding babies under a roofless home. “The paradox of the information age is that we are becoming less informed as a public as the amount of information increases,” Farid told Agence France-Presse. Melissa could be the worst hurricane Jamaica has experienced since record-keeping began but some residents say they will believe it when they see it. The country’s top officials have urged people on the island of 2.8 million to cooperate with evacuation orders but some are staying put, even as torrential rains and battering winds begin. “Jamaicans on the whole aren’t the type of people who would just get up and leave their home,” said Jamal Peters, a 34-year-old manager at a hotel in Port Royal. “They’d prefer to stay. And if a window blows out or something like that they can be there.” Peters took up his post last month and so far preparations at the waterfront hotel have involved moving guests to higher floors, trimming trees and clearing out boats. “We are still bracing for impact,” he said. “But for the most part, because this is not our first hurricane, Jamaicans would have been prepared for what’s to come.” Warnings that Melissa could be worse than 1988’s Hurricane Gilbert – which left more than 40 dead in Jamaica and killed hundreds more across the Caribbean and Mexico – triggered fear in some residents. But others said it was business as usual. “Evacuate? No, no. We’re not going to do that,” Roy Brown, a plumber and tiler, said. “As long as I know hurricane, from Gilbert, I have never left here yet. This one is no different.” “Even if it’s Category 6, I am not moving. I don’t believe I can run from death. So whenever the Father is ready for me. I know he can take me, so I’m not running.” Brown said allegations of poor shelter conditions at government-run facilities meant his views were widespread. Jennifer Ramdial, a fisherwoman who said she has lived in the community for 30 years, cited the same reason for her defiance. “I just don’t want to leave,” she added. Jamaica’s own Usain Bolt, the Olympian sprinter, meanwhile was reposting government emergency information and disaster preparedness tips to his 4.6 million X followers. Jamaicans who planned to shelter at home were already taking precautions such as blocking windows and parking cars as safely as possible. The preparations were not limited to human residents: zoos were also securing their animals, doing preparatory feeds and checks. “Time to hunker down. Likely lose power and comms soon. Much love to all,” posted Joey Brown of Hope Zoo on Facebook. Surf camp hospitality manager and chef Ishack Wilmot, 42, was sheltering with his family in Kingston. “Our family is pretty used to weathering out storms,” he said. “If anything does happen and it does become like the worst-case scenario, I’d prefer to be with my family.”
