Studios are making money off of fake AI trailers on YouTube

Years and years ago there was a trend where famous movies were being given fan-made trailers where they were put into an entirely different genre. Remember the one for The Shining that saw the Torrances as a happy family, moving about the Overlook Hotel while Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill” played? Well, those innocent days are long gone because now YouTube is infested with fake trailers that make use of AI, tricking many into thinking it’s a legit promos from the studio.

These AI trailers that have been hitting YouTube for the past couple of years have really picked up steam over the past few months, especially hitting on major upcoming releases. Some of the bigger titles, like James Gunn’s upcoming Superman, get hundreds of thousands of views, sometimes more than the real trailers. Sadly, not all of the top comments are informing others that it’s generated by artificial intelligence (because we know the channel isn’t); many are just saying how swoll Superman looks or how they can’t wait to see the movie…which will look virtually nothing like the fake trailer.

So why aren’t these AI trailers getting shut down? Deadline noted that some studios are requesting that YouTube send over some of the videos’ ad revenue their way. From one viewpoint, this ensures that Hollywood is actually continuing to make money off of properties that they own yet are being used by those without any ownership. Yes, that’s good for the studios, but if we look at the other viewpoint, things are far more dire. Really, by doing this, they are only encouraging amateur editors to take copyrighted material and do as they wish, something that is at the forefront of the AI debate in Hollywood.

With that, you can expect the likes of Screen Culture and any other proponent of AI trailers to keep building their library. After all, they’re not just getting hits and paychecks but also studio support. If, say, Warner Bros. isn’t going to demand they take all of these videos down and instead ask for financial compensation (as they, like Sony and Paramount, have), what reason do the likes of Screen Culture have to stop? Truly, shame on any studio that is allowing users and companies to continue releasing AI trailers of their upcoming movies. Is the 

What do you make of all of the AI trailers that have hit YouTube? What responsibility do the studios have here? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.

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