AI videos for TikTok of dead children shock families

Parents wey dey mourn dia children don tok how dem feel about di macabre TikTok trend wey dey use artificial intelligence to create videos to show real life child murder victims

Dis videos – dem make am without di approval of relatives – e show di animated versions of children, wey dey tok about how dem kill dem. Many pipo say di videos dey somehow .

Na since around April, na im dem begin post many of these computer-generated videos for TikTok, even though di company bin announce ban on AI versions of real young pipo for March.

But, one BBC investigation find evidence wey suggest small confusion among TikTok workers on di platform policy.

One TikTok content moderator tell BBC say four months afta dem introduce di ban, di company neva still inform am about di rule wey don change.

Some AI victim videos dey stay on di platform for several months, odas don receive millions of views.

Grieving relatives for several kontris don speak out about di AI versions of dia dead loved ones wey appear online.

Baroness Beeban Kidron, one independent member of di British Parliament House of Lords, say di videos fit dey disturbing for bereaved families becos dem present simulations of dia dead relatives wey dey tok like say dem dey tell dia own story.

"If you be pesin wey dey connected to dat child, especially parent or a family member, den na assault, an emotional assault," she tok.

'E worse pass di worst uppercut'

E no too tey afta these videos start to appear wey relatives of some of di pipo wey die begin speak out. One of di first pipo na one Canadian woman wey dem call Amélie Lemieux.

For July 2020 her daughters - Romy wey be 6 year and Norah 11 – her ex-husband kill dem before im kill imself.

For April dis year, Madame Lemieux bin shock wen dem send her one TikTok wey feature one AI version of Norah wey dey tok about di murders.

"E worse pass to take di worst uppercut you no fit imagine," Madame Lemieux tok.

"I bin no really fit watch until di end, and my brother no fit watch too. Im bin dey shout for am to stop."

Madam Lemieux bin dey really concerned say her young nieces and nephews fit randomly come across di video of dia dead cousin as dem dey scroll for TikTok.

Although plenty pipo bin report di video to TikTok, e remain online. Eventually afta Madam Lemieux make plenty media appearance to discuss her shock in response to di video, di anonymous account wey post am, dem delete am.

Madam Lemieux neva fit find pipo out wey create di video, but she dey para for her actions.

"E dey unbelievably shocking, for pesin to use sometin wey dey disturbing, sometin wey go leave us incomplete for di rest of our days," she tok. "All dem want na views, likes, shares. And di pipo wey dey comment. Personally, I no fit forgive dat.".

New technology

Di creation of these videos don dey possible sake of di access of AI software online.

E dey possible to easily create and animate basic human figure and give am script to tok wit computer-generated voice.

Some of di faces for di videos of real life victims no resemble di actual pipo. But odas dey based on genuine photos.

Di pipo wey dey make dis videos dey like to remain anonymous. But BBC identify one creator as student for London wey im name be Ritul.

For im YouTube channel e dey promote wetin im call "storytelling" videos as a way to quickly attract followers for TikTok.

"I gain thousands and thousands of followers from posting storytelling videos using AI," E tok for one video. "I gain 47,000, and dis na only under three weeks."

Ritul reject our request for comment and im TikTok account now dey deleted.

TikTok videos need to grab pesin attention in seconds or else users go kontinu to dey scroll. So creators like Ritul dey focus on making videos about di most extreme or high profile cases.

Di tori of some children don become topic of many videos for several languages including Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Polish.

Ova a two-month period BBC discover 170 different TikTok videos wey show di AI versions of James Bulger, di two-year-old British boy wey two older children bin kill for Merseyside, England for 1993.

Di TikTok trend become headline news for Britain for July, wen James mama Denise Fergus, tell one newspaper say di videos based on her son dey "really bad".

TikTok response

TikTok begin one mass takedown of videos and release one statement wey say: "Disturbing content like dis no get place for our platform. We go kontinu to remove content like dis wen we find am."

Di videos of James wey dem remove include two for Vietnamese wey between dem get four million views.

BBC tok to one TikTok content moderator for Vietnam, wey agree make we interview am on condition say we no go reveal im identity. Im say two weeks afta dem take di videos down, di company neva officially tell am say dem dey ban dis kain content.

E tell BBC say im bin believe say di videos bin dey allowed under TikTok rules wey dey allow survivors of exploitation and abuse to share dia stories.

So confusion dey among TikTok workers about wetin di company policy actually be? TikTok no respond clearly to dat point wen we reach out to di company for comment.

But TikTok make am clear say di moderator bin dey wrong to suggest say these videos fit dey allowed for di platform as survivors' experiences - becos dem be computer-generated images of dead children instead of genuine survivors' experiences.

E still dey easy to find these kind of videos for TikTok. But TikTok say dem dey very open about di fact say dem no fit catch eviritin

Additional reporting by Thuong Le from BBC News Vietnamese