Video giant YouTube contains the most AI content compared to any other social media site – that’s according to a new report that has analyzed AI-related hashtags on the planet’s most popular platforms.
With nearly 1.8 million searches, YouTube leads the way by some distance from X, formerly Twitter, with just over 600,000. The Meta-owned Instagram and Facebook are next, followed by Pinterest, TikTok and LinkedIn.
The research also gathered information on the most searched AI-related hashtags, with #deepfake at the top, while also finding the likes of Khloé Kardashian and Shakira among the celebrities posting the most AI-altered images on Instagram.
#deepfake Most Popular AI-Related Hashtag
Image and photography platform Freepik searched the seven social media sites for the most popular AI-related hashtags to identify which platform had the most mentions.
YouTube was far and away the leader, with a volume of 1.79 million. Over half of that came from the search #deepfake (0.97 million), followed closely by #aiimages (0.79 million).
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With X, Instagram, and Facebook only featuring around 1.5 million of these searches between them, Freepik put this massive disparity down to the fact that YouTube has only just implemented AI detection tools. Before these were released, it didn’t have a way for users to report AI-generated content and so many AI videos on the site went viral.
“As YouTube is very video content-focused and has many users globally, the platform gives AI models the ability to understand a vast amount of topics and content,” Álex Góngora, Chief Marketing Officer at Freepik, told us.
“YouTube’s popularity and simplicity ensure that AI-generated content can reach large audiences from all around the world, which provides valuable insights for further improvement when it comes to engagement.” – Álex Góngora, Freepik
Keeping Up With the Kardash-AI-ns
As part of its study, Freepik also also searched the 100 most followed Instagram pages to identify how much of their recent content (10 pictures) is potentially AI-generated using an AI image analyzer.
It found that more than a quarter of Khloé Kardashian’s posts had been altered by AI in some manner, with the reality TV star topping the list. Her sister Kim, on the other hand, was among the lowest with only 0.47% of her content tweaked.
Pop stars Shakira (15.3%), Beyonce (14.2%) and Katy Perry (12.23%) all feature in the top ten, while actor Chris Hemsworth (14.25%) and footballer Cristiano Ronaldo (12.45%) are also present.
Intriguingly, Joko Widodo – whose 10-year tenure as president of Indonesia ended last Sunday – comes second with 15.35% of his content affected.
The Furore Over Deepfakes
As more sophisticated and greater numbers of AI video generators and image creators become available, social media platforms have a battle on their hands to ensure that content produced by such tools isn’t used to the detriment of their users.
“AI can be misused to enhance the creation of content such as deepfakes, or to spread misinformation and false narratives.” – Álex Góngora, Freepik
With that most used YouTube hashtag in mind, it’s probably no great surprise that the US government is already moving to curtail misuse of deepfake technology – the senate recently voted unanimously to pass anti-deepfake laws that will give victims the right to sue creators.
The use of artificial intelligence has been a running theme of this year’s presidential election race. A deepfake of Kamala Harris shared by Elon Musk on X in July courted controversy, while Donald Trump falsely claimed Taylor Swift endorsed his presidency bid after AI-generated content suggested she supports the Republican candidate.
