Trump delivered to us this uncanny video in which he denounces the killing of Kirk and blames the left’s rhetoric as the sole cause of this unfathomable act.

Am I crazy, or is this obviously AI?

  • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    Oh my… y’all need to chill.

    Download yt-dlp and run this command, to get CNN’s ‘direct’ 245MB stream on your hard drive instead of AP’s (or YouTube’s) tiny re-encodes on a web player:

    yt-dlp -f direct https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/10/us/video/trump-oval-office-statement-white-house-charlie-kirk-death-digvid

    See that combing? It’s interlaced.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlaced_video

    Or telecined, I think, to be more specific. While it’s impossible to know what the actual feed from the White House looked like, re-encodes I’m looking at are clearly de-interlaced (poorly) which is why motion looks so weird. It’s also choppy and MPEG-blocky, hallmarks of poor encoding even in a 13.9 Mb/s stream, and recompressing that to a tiny bitrate makes it even worse.


    Y’all (and apparently the rest of the internet) are obsessing over literally decades-old video encoding/broadcasting issues and oldschool video filters to fix them that have nothing to with AI.

    • Auli@lemmy.ca
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      4 hours ago

      Why would there be interlaced video in 2025? Fuck do they still have a tube tv?

      • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        The video encoding crowd was screaming that that 10 years ago, heh. And 20 years ago.

        Shrug. I guess people are still getting ‘traditional’ cable broadcasts. Turn on YouTube TV, and you can see they still use those ancient codecs (even though its all streamed), probably because they have to just comply with the system.

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      I’m reminded of how the high-resolution footage of Space-X’s landing [attempts] from a few years ago stoked massive waves of paranoia and conspiracy across the internet because nobody had ever seen such modern footage of a spacecraft in motion and most people who saw it thought it was fake.

      People really want to feel like they’ve figured something special out, in a world where media and information is constantly changing and advancing.

      • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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        4 hours ago

        Agreed.

        Though I wouldn’t disparage investigation and ‘figuring things out.’ I’d perhaps rephrase that: “I don’t have much experience with this topic, maybe I should qualifty my certainty,” as a sentiment, seems to have disappeared. The Trump admin is kind of a perfect embodiment of that.


        To be clear, I’m not an expert here either. I’m not a broadcast engineer or anything and would defer to some news source that actually knows what they’re talking about… but I do know just enough Vapoursynth to be dangerous, and have seen what looks like this exact artifacting in way, way too many TV show broadcasts…

  • BotsRuinedEverything@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    I see everyone here talking about specific parts of the video and how it’s fake because of various imperfections in the rendering. You are all thinking WAY too hard about this. When was the last time you saw trump speak for that long without some narcissistic rant thrown in off script? For him to accomplish this video he would need a level of reading comprehension that we have never witnessed from him before. THE REAL TRUMP IS ILLITERATE. No fucking way could he have read a teleprompter that quickly.

  • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    6 hours ago

    This is another problem with the “AI” grift. Since there’s no such thing as “AI”, the term is constantly misused to the point of meaninglessness.

    Is this video just edited? Or is it edited with “AI”?!?!?! There’s no fucking difference. It’s all just computers doing shit with absolutely zero “intelligence”.

  • altphoto@lemmy.today
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    4 hours ago

    So I could also impersonate myself to be way more coherent?

    I wonder is I could make my self lase too…I might need a little tickle to get me started…

    Oh, no photonics experts on here…I’ll phase my self out…

  • 4am@lemmy.zip
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    6 hours ago

    There is software (I think it comes with Adobe stuff) that allows you subtly morph/crossfade instead of jumpcut, so if the speaker pauses or flubs a line you can remove it without an obvious, distracting jump.

    I think that’s probably what we’re seeing here.

  • 🇨🇦 tunetardis@piefed.ca
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    7 hours ago

    I’ve been thinking of late that his tweets look AI generated. You just enter something like: take today’s news from a reputable source, invert all the facts, add lots of hyperbole, and capitalize words for emphasis.

  • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    I posted this earlier.

    He straight up loses a finger.

    Slowed down:

    Zoomed in on the fingers.

    Use the time line to scrub the video. He loses the pinky and gains an additional digit on top, and everything just shifts down one register.

    • OboTheHobo@ttrpg.network
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      15 hours ago

      I think this may be just interpolation weirdness. Apparently the video was recorded in 24fps but encoded in 60.

      See this analysis, I posted it in another comment: https://youtube.com/shorts/hXhDB1fK7ok

      Edit: worth noting the interpolarion may be done by a similar AI engine which explains why it looks so similar to AI generated footage. Similar technology as the motion smoothness on TVs or DLSS frame gen. If it truly is 24-60fps and the interpolation is done by AI this would indicate over half the frames are AI generated. Would explain a lot while not necessarily meaning the video as a whole is AI.

      • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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        15 hours ago

        just visually track the tip of his middle finger. And keep track of how many fingers are supposed to be past it.

        His middle finger litterally becomes his ring finger.

        • OboTheHobo@ttrpg.network
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          14 hours ago

          I know, im seeing what you mean. I’m saying that could very much be an issue with interpolation. Especially if its AI interpolation. I edited my comment to add a bit more detail but its possible that over half the frames of this video are AI generated while the video itself is still real. Obviously I cant say for sure that that’s what is happening but this very much could be an interpolation artifact. Even in non-genAI interpolation, weird smudginess and morphing of fast moving objects in interpolated frames is a common and well known issue.

          • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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            14 hours ago

            I could accept AI enhanced, but also, like…I’ve been looking at it a lot.

            He’s way too still. Uncannily still. The chair doesn’t move. At all. It’s in high resolution. But isn’t.

            And the finger thing. Its such an extremely well established issue with these kinds of videos.

            It’s got enough red flags I’ll be looking for more coverage on the matter.

            Regardless, it’s so unbelievably wildy inappropriate to be doing any kind of ai enhanced or even smoothed editing to the words of a world leader when those words have incredible weight impact and are effectively legally binding.

            • OboTheHobo@ttrpg.network
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              14 hours ago

              I’m looking at it more and I’m fairly certain this is just interpolated.

              Look at this frame:

              Seems to me to be pretty normal. No weird hand stuff, fingers look fine.

              Now look at the next two frames, particularly the second one:

              Totally jank. Fingers are blotchy, there’s a ghost finger, overall looks super fake. But then look at the next two frames:

              Second to last has a little bit of weirdness still, but by the last frame it looks totally legit and real. No blotchy fingers, no ghost fingers, overall looks very normal.

              That kind of behavior - where some frames look completely fine and in between ones look blotchy and weird - is exactly what you expect from motion interpolation.

              Look at the example on a cat video on wikepedia, for instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_interpolation

              The framerate is much lower on the original video here, but you can see a lot of the same kinds of artifacts. Blotchy limbs, “ghosts” in movment, things morphing in ways they shouldn’t… its very similar to what’s seen in the trump video. And mind you, to my knowledge this video is done with older interpolation methods that had nothing to do with genAI.

                • OboTheHobo@ttrpg.network
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                  14 hours ago

                  I know. But that can totally happen in interpolated frames. Look at the cat video on the Wikipedia page. There are moments when the toy dissapears, when the kittens head splits into two, when one arm morphs into another… stuff like this is totally possible and even common for motion interpolation.

        • OboTheHobo@ttrpg.network
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          13 hours ago

          See some of my later replies. I’ve looked at it frame by frame and it looks exactly like the artifacts you’d see from motion interpolation. They can look very similar to AI artifacts.

    • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      Oh dang, I saw that post earlier and thought it was probably just him repositioning his hands, but it really was my phone not having enough resolution.

      Edit: although the motion interpolation also makes sense. I withdraw my comment, because I frankly don’t know enough about ai nor do I have good enough eyesight to responsibly have a position on this.

    • teegus@sh.itjust.works
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      16 hours ago

      whut, he just moves them so his index finger is mostly behind the middle one? you can still see it. what am I missing?

      • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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        16 hours ago

        Use the time line to scrub the video and put your eyes on the ring finger of the left hand. The pinky dissolves into the hand, and the ring finger “becomes” the pinky.

        Now put your eyes on the index finger of the left hand and track it visually. It “becomes” the middle finger, and an entirely new finger appears to take its place.

        • favoredponcho@lemmy.zip
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          15 hours ago

          It’s true, the ring finger basically becomes the pinky and the pinky disappears. His pointer magically changes position. Also, his middle knuckle looks unnatural to start off with.

      • ideonek@piefed.social
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        16 hours ago

        That what I thought at first. But additional finger pops up and he still have 5 even with index finger hidden.

    • kingofras@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      People need to stop upvoting this persons posts. Not deepfake or AI. So sad we’re already at this populism and technical illiterate stage on Lemmy.

  • forrgott@lemmy.zip
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    16 hours ago

    I feel like we should’ve seen this coming; if/when he kicks the bucket, they’re gonna use AI to keep the cult of personality going for as long as they can.

    • Frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      10 hours ago

      This White House leaks worse than Trump’s asshole. If he died, there’s a better then small chance that staffers would accidentally invite a journalist to their Signal chat about it. It’s just not something they can keep secret.

      • forrgott@lemmy.zip
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        12 hours ago

        Hmm, I know the movie. But I must disagree with the comparison.

        The movie “Dave” is definitely worth watching, though!

        I also highly recommend “Wag the Dog”, starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert de Niro.

  • StarryPhoenix97@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    Are we being false flagged? I know the right is going to escalate no matter what but it feels like we’re being false flagged. Why did the president tweet about Kirk’s death SO fast. And if this is AI how did they have it ready so quickly?

    • jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works
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      9 hours ago

      I would not put it past Donny Bonespurs to have Kirk assassinated as either a distraction or to use as a pretext for more power grabs.

      I’ll admit it’s a little tin foil hatty but considering he views other people as completely disposable, I don’t think it’s that far fetched.

      • Walk_blesseD@piefed.blahaj.zone
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        6 hours ago

        Nah that just doesn’t make sense. He doesn’t need any pretexts because he’s already getting everything he demands and more handed to him on a silver platter at every opportunity, and if he wanted one anyway he’d just make it up and bullshit everyone like his lot always does

    • UpperBroccoli@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      7 hours ago

      Are we being false flagged?

      Whether or not that is the case, I bet a lot of the fascists in and around the white house creamed their pants yesterday because of the opportunity this no doubt presents to them.

    • anachronist@midwest.social
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      5 hours ago

      I thing the shooter was a groyper who is upset about the Epstein reversal. Sorry SRA people, having trouble seeing a leftist one-shotting the neck from 250 yards away.

      But yeah this will be used as a pretext but if not this there would have been other pretexts, Like how he used big balls getting pantsed by a girl to declare marshall law in DC.

      • Milk_Sheikh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        7 hours ago

        Leftist gun enjoyer reporting in - 250 yards is achievable for most people if you practice, depending on your setup. Even a mid grade rifle’s mechanical accuracy can ‘group’ a 9” circle at that range, throw a zoom optical scope on top and done.

        Mid to long range shooting is a trifecta of shooter skill, knowledge of environment conditions, and quality of equipment. The further the distance, the more of each you need. That kind of range and precision was viable with basically every bolt action deer gun in America, and most hunters using them tbh.

        • anachronist@midwest.social
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          5 hours ago

          Yeah but most SRA types have a hardon for antique Soviet garbage like SKS. “If it was good enough for the NVA it’s good enough for me.”

          Also it can be really hard to find a 200+ yard range in most blue states while local hillbillies in Utah would have now trouble finding a place to plink around at 400 yards just for fun.

  • kingofras@lemmy.world
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    15 hours ago

    The real boring dystopia is that keyboard warrior idiots with no video editing experience will create these type of posts and mislead entire communities.

    It is not a deepfake, and I believe leaving posts like this up or without correction in the title damage Lemmy’s reputation.

    Please consider changing title or take down the post. I explain the edit here.

    https://lemmy.world/comment/19325281

    • Vupware@lemmy.zipOP
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      10 hours ago

      I’ve left the post up, but edited the title. I would encourage you to reach out to the mods if you feel my changes are insufficient.

      Thank you for your contributions!

      The real boring dystopia is that we have so little trust in our government that we suspect this at all.

      • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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        5 hours ago

        The real boring dystopia is obsession the internet seems to have over something being ‘AI’ or not.

        This is a perfect example. We’re looking at deinterlacing and blocking artifacts that have plagued reuploaded broadcasts for decades, and that pixel peepers have complained about that entire time, yet these ancient filters are being called out as ‘AI’. And it has little to do with Trump and the government: this would happen to anything high-profile enough using a telecined broadcast system.