AI-Generated Bear Videos Fuel Anxiety in Japan

If a record number of fatal bear attacks wasn’t scary enough, experts say a flood of AI-generated videos in Japan showing people in close encounters with bears is only increasing public anxiety – and could put people at greater risk.

While news about real attacks and disturbances appears frequently enough,people who watch online content are warning social media users not to believe realistic videos on platforms like TikTok of bears attacking or interacting with humans.

Some of the most well-known clips show bears destroying parts of a solar plant, and another shows a bear running off with a pet dog. Othre fake videos show a news reporter talking about bear sightings and an older woman feeding a bear fruit in a field.

Some even show people, including a schoolgirl, fighting off the animals – the worst thing to do during an encounter. Black bears in Japan can weigh up to 130kg (287 pounds), and Ussuri brown bears, often found on the northern island of Hokkaido, can weigh as much as 400kg.