Can we still tell what’s real? ‘Unsettling’ new AI tech makes generating ultrarealistic videos easy

The news anchor looks professional, alert and slightly concerned.

“We’re getting reports of a fast-moving wildfire approaching a town in Alberta,” she says in the calm-yet-resolute voice audiences have come to expect of broadcast journalists relaying distressing news.

The video is 100 per cent fake.

It was generated by CBC News using Google’s new AI tool, Veo 3. But the unknowing eye might not realize it. That’s because the video-generation model Veo 3 is designed to be astonishingly realistic, generating its own dialogue, sound effects and soundtracks.

Google introduced Veo 3 at its I/O conference last week, where Google’s vice-president of Gemini and Google Labs, Josh Woodward, explained the new model has even better visual quality, a stronger understanding of physics and generates its own audio.

“Now, you prompt it and your characters can speak,” Woodward said. “We’re entering a new era of creation with combined audio and video generation that’s incredibly realistic.”

It’s also designed to follow prompts. When CBC News entered the prompt, “a …