"Belts That Instantly Make Abs"… 'Fake AI Ads' Spread on YouTube Based on Trust in Reviews

[Anchor]

A significant portion of everyday people's experience review ads frequently seen on YouTube has been revealed as fake reviews manipulated by artificial intelligence. While the government once rolled out regulatory measures due to the severity of fake doctor ads created using AI, the phenomenon has now spread to reviews by ordinary citizens.

Why is this still happening? Reporter Kim Taewon investigated.

[Reporter]

A man with a protruding belly puts on a belt-type massager, and his appearance instantly transforms into a muscular physique with visible abs.

Reviews claiming dramatic effects from wearing this belt follow one after another.

[My dad wore this and dropped his pant size from 38 to 32 in just 3 weeks.]

The claim about shrinking pant waist sizes was confirmed to be a fake video created with AI.

As a result of the Korea Consumer Agency analyzing YouTube ads for nine months up to last June, 420 cases of AI-manipulated ads were detected.

By utilizing AI, one can easily change physical appearances such as height and weight using just a single photo. Among the fake ads uncovered this time, exaggerating physical changes in this manner was the most common, accounting for 171 cases.

A review ad claiming that a fully grown adult whose growth plates have closed took height-growing pills and grew 6 cm taller.

This is also an AI fabrication.

[Choi Byung-ho / Professor, Korea University Human-Inspired AI Research Institute: Because this is now an unstoppable force. Since it is becoming cheaper and cheaper to produce AI videos, and the technology is becoming democratized, a situation has arrived where anyone can make them.]

When YouTube was once flooded with fake AI doctor ads, the government announced late last year that it would introduce an AI-generated content labeling system.

However, the implementation of the system has been delayed until now, and the problem has spread to manipulated ordinary user experience review ads.

YouTube stated that it promptly removes such videos when requested by the Consumer Agency, but it has not introduced measures to proactively detect and block manipulated videos on its own.

(Video reporting: Kim Hangyeol, Video editing: Lee Seung-yeol, Video source: Korea Consumer Agency)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.