By Aidan Eller 

As we all know, AI has become a large part of our everyday lives. Text-video generators are the newest addition to the AI lineup. The most well-known model is from OpenAI called Sora. Sora generates short hyperreal videos from text prompts. Sora initially launched in 2024 but Sora two, the most recent model, was released at the end of September. Since its release, not even a month ago, it has already climbed to the top of charts in the app store and reached over 1 million downloads on the first day. It is also constantly being updated and having bugs worked out. It has released new features with cameos, Pet/object cameos and updated editing tools. 

So, what are the benefits of this new model, and why does it matter? Giving people access to fast and easy video creation makes this creative process more accessible to everyone. Creating videos like this has previously been strictly for editors with lots of practice, but now anyone can create high-quality videos. For marketing purposes, this can speed up storyboarding or concept visualization and help with advertising. This can help companies to increase their quality and clarity of pitching concepts that in the past would require large budgets and crews. 

As with most new and groundbreaking inventions, there are drawbacks and dangers. One of the most common places to find Sora AI is on social media. From TikTok to Instagram reels, there has been a large influx of these “fake videos”. While there are videos that use the program for good, clean humor, there is a larger group that uses this to make misleading or harmful videos. One of the people who has been impacted the most by this app has been influencer Jake Paul. There are thousands of videos of deepfake Jake Paul videos that contain him coming out as gay, in drag attire or performing insane stunts. Many viewers took these videos as real. Jake Paul realized a statement saying, “I’m going to be suing everybody that is continuing to spread these false narratives of me doing S**t I would literally never do”.  

This raises a larger concern for new technology. This is the spread of misinformation and trust people must have for any video they see from here on out. This could lead to increases in scamming or defamation of character using this new AI model. While OpenAI has promised stronger identity control and more transparency in the rules for likeness use, it will be hard to control now that this technology exists. Sora has now made synthetic or “fake video” mainstream. Now, whether it has become a tool for empowerment or deception is based on our society. So be on the lookout for these deep-fake videos when you are on social media.