Will Smith accused of using AI to create concert footage

Posted On August 26, 2025August 26, 2025

Actor and musician Will Smith has been accused of using artificial intelligence to create a promotional video, purporting to show the adoring crowds at his Based on a True Story tour.

Smith’s summer tour, which began in Morocco back in June, reached the United Kingdom last weekend, in support of his recent album of the same name. Ahead of those shows, the artist shared a video on his official YouTube channel, with the caption “My favourite part of tour is seeing you all up close. Thank you for seeing me too.”

Fans were quick to point out oddities and AI hallmarks throughout said video, which shows various crowd shots supposedly taken during the tour. For instance, some viewers pointed out the strange, misshapen hands and extra fingers of concertgoers, and misspelt signs, one of which read “FR6SH CRINCE”.

At other points in the short video, crowd members appear to blend into or overlap each other, which is another indicator of an AI-generated or enhanced video. In the wake of the upload, fans have heavily criticised Smith for allegedly using artificial intelligence to bolster the presentation of his current tour, with multiple commenters branding the video “embarrassing”.

There has been some suggestion that YouTube itself has begun experimenting with AI and artificially upscaling videos uploaded to the platform, per an article published by The Atlantic last week. However, the promo video uploaded to Will Smith’s official channel does appear to be more overt and overwhelming in its use of the technology. 

Smith himself has yet to respond to the claims that he has been using AI to artificially boost the reception of his current tour.

Nevertheless, Smith is not the only musician to find themselves in hot water over the use of AI. Recently, Rod Stewart came under fire for displaying an AI-generated video of Ozzy Osbourne posing for selfies with various dead musicians during his recent tour.

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