Has AI-Generated Video Improved Way Too Much?

Today in Focus examines the rise of “AI slop,” surreal short videos saturating Instagram and family WhatsApp chats. Tech journalist Chris Stokel Walker reviews OpenAI’s Sora 2 and Meta’s Vibes, apps that generate realistic clips and, in Sora’s case, insert your face via a scan. Quality has leapt from crude deepfakes to near photorealism, driven by more GPUs and models that learn plausible physics and sound. Risks include disinformation, copyright infringement, unauthorized use of likeness, and political manipulation. Guardrails and watermarks are weak and bypassed. Governments hesitate to regulate while courting AI investment, even as bubble warnings grow. The platforms chase sticky social products to justify spending. The outcome is a feed of convincing fabrications and doubt about what is real and how we should respond.

The Guardian, Lucy Hough and Chris Stokel-Walker – AI slop: Is the internet about to get even worse? – podcast – 22nd October 2025