Upon being presented with an AI video seemingly similar to the millions of videos on our algorithms, Upper School history teacher Vladimir Klimenko simply said, “I really don’t know”.
With generative AI achieving 53% population adoption within three years according to Stanford HAI, the interactions with this technology and our world have been nothing short of tumultuous, making the spreading of false information incredibly easy and making debunking real content from fake information next to impossible.
We see this interaction following an unprecedented attack with the aim of explicit regime change in Iran. The United States and Israel conducted preemptive strikes targeting crucial military and nuclear facilities and leadership. In the strikes, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Tehran on February 28th, 2026. In what is known as Operation Epic Fury, the United States and Israel continuously dismantled the remnants of Iranian nuclear and missile programs, while Iran retaliated on American and Israeli bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE.
Quick as always to comment on current events, social media content creators and news outlets made the turmoil in the Middle East a major topic of interest.
Although the battlefield hasn’t been restricted to just the Middle East, the algorithms on social media have been besieged with AI-generated videos of the Middle East, meant to propagandize and sway viewers’ opinions away from the facts of this conflict.
It all started with a short clip of a United States Air Force jet dodging missiles in pursuit of the plane that went viral on TikTok and Instagram.
With generative AI becoming widely accessible, more AI images and videos have been flooding the internet, contrasting with the few crude deepfake images in 2022 of the Russia-Ukraine War.
Examples of misinforming AI videos from the conflict include images of Iranian soldiers capturing US soldiers, fake scenes inside the Tel Aviv airport, videos depicting fictional missile strikes on Israel, and the occasional deepfake of an unnamed area exploding while people run in terror.
These videos are incredibly convincing, as AI is not only becoming prevalent but is always improving its software to be more efficient and accurate.
To highlight how difficult it is to debunk real content vs fake, Upper School history teacher Vladimir Klimenko watched both real and AI videos of the war and was asked which were real or fake.
Going into the challenge, Mr. Klimenko had a pretty good idea of what he was looking for within the videos.
However, after being shown six clips of the conflict, three of which were real and three of which were AI., Mr. Klimenko was shocked by how indiscernible the videos were.
“Usually, you can tell just by looking at it what is real and AI. When you see a beautiful picture as opposed to more low-quality images and footage, it becomes incredibly clear which one was made by artificial intelligence,” said Mr. Klimenko.
However, recent deepfakes have been incredibly hard to differentiate from what’s real, contrary to what most people expect. AI can now accurately mimic the low-quality, grainy, and shaky videos that once indicated that a human had been there to take them.
With this being said, it’s no longer telling whether a video is AI or not based on whether it looks like it was recorded on an iPhone 4.
So, how can someone tell just by looking at the video if it is AI?
According to the BBC, in order to successfully debunk what media is real vs fictional, there is a quick and easy process to follow. Check for any sort of distortions such as extra fingers, asymmetrical facial features, or fused limbs. Look for varied textures. If you find that there are no sharp contrasts between textures and everything looks a bit “waxy”, the video is most likely AI. Often in AI videos, there are background inconsistencies, improper shadows and reflections, and repetition of patterns.
On both sides of the political spectrum, misinformation is renounced. It’s important to remember that misinformation isn’t exclusive to one political affiliation, and it is actually used more often than you would think to sway opinion and erode trust in their opposing side.
With this being said, it is encouraged to think twice about what you see on social media, especially when it comes to footage of conflicts such as the current conflict between Israel, Iran, and the United States. Often, you can tell if what you are seeing is politically charged; that is when it’s advised to be most skeptical.
Fact checkers have been working overtime to find AI clips shared by even some of the more vetted broadcasters, such as Al Jazeera, whose Arabic profile on X has posted AI content showing fake destruction in Tel Aviv.
This conflict has raised questions about the accessibility of AI and the integrity of its users. Could AI be the modern avenue for political propaganda? Only time will be able to tell.
