Will Smith’s New Hype Video Features AI Crowds

Will Smith’s latest hype video, originally posted on August 12, features concert footage from the rapper’s recent tour dates, mixed with unsettling AI-generated audience members that contains strange effects like melting fingers, morphing tattoos, and distorted faces. The clip, ironically titled “My favorite part of tour is seeing you all up close…,” has sparked debate over whether the crowds are real or digitally altered. The eerie visuals appear on both YouTube and Facebook versions of the video, raising questions about possible AI manipulation or secret upscaling technologies that create unnaturally crisp yet nightmarish images. The video captures audiences from Smith’s ongoing summer tour of Europe and the UK in support of his recent album, Based on a True Story, which marked the Philadelphia hip-hop star’s first new record in 20 years, dating back to 2005’s Lost and Found. (Consequence of Sound)