When AI Videos Become Too Real to Tell Apart

I'm scared! Fear isn't the word I'd use. More like watching a train coming at you in slow motion, knowing exactly what's about to happen but unable to look away.

Google Veo 3 dropped last month, and Nigerian tech creator Fisayo Fosudo posted videos he made with it. The prompt was simple: "A Nigerian mother looks at her son and says 'I am so proud of you.'" The result? A video so authentic that only a few locals could spot it as fake.
The emotion, the setting, the way she moved - everything screamed real.

Fosudo created this as a demonstration of the technology's power, not for fraud. He's one of many creators worldwide exploring what's possible when AI meets creativity.

This is where we are now. Not where we're heading.

The Speed of Change is so Fast

Remember when AI writing was laughably bad? That was what, two years ago? Now Claude writes better than most humans. The same leap is happening with video, except faster. Like, much faster.

Veo 3 videos shared online are impressing viewers with their realism, and also terrifying them with a sense that real and fake have become hopelessly blurred. The tool doesn't just create moving pictures. It creates complete experiences with dialogue, soundtracks and sound effects. No more silent movies with weird physics. These videos follow real-world rules, sync lips perfectly, and sound like actual humans recorded them.

The scariest part? Each video generation consumes a chunk of that total, that is 150 credits per generation, with Veo 3 costing just $249 per month for unlimited access. That's pocket change for criminals who steal millions.

The Global Fraud Explosion

Here's what keeps me up at night: Cybercrime is exploding everywhere. In early 2024, a British engineering firm lost 20 million pounds after scammers used live deepfake video to impersonate company executives during a Zoom call. The criminals looked and sounded exactly like trusted leaders during the video meeting.

This isn't a regional problem - it's global. The 2024 Global Financial Crimes Report projected that banks could lose $442 billion in 2023. That's nearly half a trillion dollars vanishing into criminals' pockets worldwide.

Now imagine giving these criminals perfect video technology.

Picture this: Your bank CEO calls you on video. Perfect face, perfect voice, perfect mannerisms. They need you to wire money urgently. A terrorist threat, they say. National security. Would you question it? Would you even think to?

From Wall Street to Lagos, from London to Mumbai, criminals are getting smarter. And now they have tools that make their lies look like truth.

When Presidents Start Wars They Never Declared

The geopolitical stuff is even worse. Someone with a grudge against any world leader can now create a perfect video of them declaring war, insulting another nation, or admitting to crimes. By the time fact-checkers catch up, cities could be burning.

TIME was able to use Veo 3 to create realistic videos, including a Pakistani crowd setting fire to a Hindu temple; Chinese researchers handling a bat in a wet lab; an election worker shredding ballots. These aren't perfect, but they're good enough to spark violence if posted during a crisis with the right caption.

Think I'm being dramatic? Remember the  British engineering firm that lost 20 million pounds after scammers used live deepfake video to impersonate company executives during a Zoom call? The employee transferred the money because everything looked legitimate. The faces, the voices, the way they moved - all perfect.

The Good Side (Yes, There Is One)

Before you throw your computer out the window, let's talk about why this technology exists. It's not all doom and gloom.

Marketing teams can create ads without hiring actors or renting studios. Small businesses can compete with big budgets. Creators can bring ideas to life without Hollywood connections. Any teenager with a Google account and $249 (£200) a month can create footage that would have required a Hollywood studio just five years ago.

The democratization (making something available to everyone) of creativity sounds amazing. And honestly? It is. The same tool that terrifies me also excites the creator in me. Imagine making movies in your bedroom. Imagine telling stories without millions in funding.

But (there's always a but), democratization works both ways.

The Open Source Pandora's Box

Here's the thing about technology - once it's out, it's out. Just like Python, PHP, Rust, and other programming languages became free for anyone to use, AI video tools are going the same way. Open-source models democratize access to powerful video generation tools, and there's no putting that genie back in the bottle.

Google might restrict harmful content on Veo 3, but what happens when someone runs similar tech on their home computer? No restrictions, no oversight, no limits. Create whatever you want. Political deepfakes, revenge porn, evidence of crimes that never happened - it's all possible.

The detection problem makes it worse. It's easier to build technology to generate deepfakes than to detect them because of the training data needed to build the generalized deepfake detection models. We're in an arms race where the bad guys have a head start.

What Now?

I don't have answers. Nobody does. As tools like Google Veo 3 bring deepfake technology into the mainstream, the responsibility to navigate this new digital terrain becomes more urgent.

Some practical steps:

• Question everything you see online, especially during breaking news
• Verify through multiple sources before believing dramatic claims
• Look for telltale signs (though these are disappearing fast)
• Use video calls for sensitive business - but even those aren't safe anymore

The technology isn't evil. Like any tool, it reflects the intentions of its users. But when bad intentions meet perfect execution, we're in uncharted territory.

I started by saying I'm scared. I am. Not of the technology, but of us. Of what we'll do with it. Of how unprepared we are for a world where seeing isn't believing anymore.

The future isn't coming. It's here. And honestly? We're not ready.