Public trust in professional weather forecasters could suffer if people take a fake tornado image as evidence of a real storm that received no official warning, one storm chaser says.
The risks of weather imagery generated using artificial intelligence could extend far beyond simply misleading social media users.
Here's what to know
In a short video shared on social media, content creator and storm chaser Liam Watkins (@liamwatkinswx) discussed several AI-generated tornado photos circulating after a severe weather event in the Southwest.
Viewers who may not be able to distinguish a fabricated tornado image from a real one may be especially vulnerable to the increasingly convincing appearance of AI-generated content, Watkins warned.
"If you didn't really know any better, you would think that this was an actual tornado that was ongoing," the creator said in the video, while showing some of the AI-generated images.
@liamwatkinswx AI generated tornado photos and videos are going to be a very big problem for the entire public in the coming storm seasons. #weather #storm #tornado #fyp #viral ♬ original sound - kyanonymous - Kyan Still Plays
"AI-generated tornado photos and videos are going to be a very big problem for the entire public in the coming storm seasons," Watkins captioned the video.
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Meanwhile, the data centers that power computing operations such as AI, streaming, and cloud infrastructure consume huge amounts of energy. If generated by burning polluting fossil fuels, the energy behind the expanding technology could contribute to intensifying storms too.
Risks to trust
Watkins' post warns of potential consequences as weather-related artificial images continue to crop up across social media platforms.
For example, fabricated images and videos could make it harder for official weather monitors to identify a real tornado.
Watkins also described the risk of eroding public trust in the National Weather Service: Someone taken in by fake footage might wrongly blame the agency for not issuing a warning.
But attempts to call out fabricated images do not always work, according to one video viewer, who said in the comments that people often continue to defend pictures as authentic even after being told they were AI-generated.
"With past photos it seems like there were at least some indicators that made it more obvious that it was AI, but with this one it's truly hard to tell," another commenter wrote about some of the fake tornado imagery.
Where can I learn more?
Fake images can leave viewers confused about whether a storm or other event really happened:
• A meteorologist warns that fake AI tornado footage is becoming too realistic to spot during emergencies.
• AI weather forecasts now rival leading systems, but predicting hurricane intensity remains a challenge.
• Tavus says nearly half of users mistook its AI for a human during interactions.
• Fashion fans mistook AI-generated outfit videos for real footage before learning the looks were fake.
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