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On TikTok, an ASMR creator dips a spoon into a bowl of molten-hot lava, brings it to her lips, and eats it like its honey. Another creator crunches down into a seemingly radioactive moon stone, which is glowing so brightly that it’s visible through her cheeks. And a third takes a casual bite out of a cinnamon bun made of glass. Thankfully, none of these women are real: All three clips are an example of AI-generated ASMR. ASMR is an acronym for autonomous sensory meridian response, which describes a physical tingling sensation triggered by certain sounds or visuals. Videos designed to elicit these responses have been popular on YouTube for more than a decade, and have also found massive popularity as short-form clips on TikTok. Over the past few weeks, a subcategory of fantastical, often physically impossible AI-generated ASMR has started to take social media by storm. The key to AI ASMR? Google Veo 3 For anyone who regularly enjoys ASMR, AI-generated content has become unavoidable in recent weeks. The aforementioned lava clip, for example, has 2.8 million views on TikTokand its creator, @asmraiworks, has several other videos boasting similar view counts. Another AI ASMR TikToker, @impossibleais, began posting just 10 days ago on June 10, and has already racked up millions of views and nearly 200,000 followers. On YouTube, compilations of these videos are steadily gaining traction, while creators across platforms are now offering paid courses to teach other users how to make viral AI ASMR. @satisfyingclips50 Crystal eating ASMR #asmr #asmrvideo #asmrsounds #satisfying #satisfyingvideo #mukbangfoodasmr #aiasmr original sound – SatisfyingClips The key to this new genre of content appears to be Googles Veo 3 AI video generator, which debuted this March. Unlike predecessors such as OpenAIs Sora, Veo 3 can create sound and dialogue alongside its photorealistic videomaking it the perfect medium for ASMR content, which relies on satisfying taps, crunches, and slurps to accompany its visuals. Veo 3 with native sound is such a huge unlock here, wrote Olivia Moore, AI partner at the venture capital firm a16z, in an X thread explaining the trend. This is now a one step creation process, versus having to generate and then sync each individual sound with the video. @tacokittyasmr MUKBANG ai asmr #foryoupage #oddlysatisfying #slimeasmr #foryoupag #fouryou #aigenerated #fyppp original sound – Considering that modern ASMR often relies on bright, eye-catching images to attract new viewers, it was only a matter of time before the space became inundated with AI tech that can create content on demand. Now, it seems, the floodgates are officially open. Lava, rocks, and glass fruit, oh my! Currently, there are a few different types of AI ASMR videos that are especially primed to capture the publics attention. On the tamer end of the spectrum are classic ASMR mukbang vdeos, which involve creators eating food on camera. The AI-generated versions tend to follow similar scripts to a typical mukbanglike the creator talking to the camera and taking overly large bites of foodbut with a slight uncanny valley feel and occasional glitches in the actual physics of eating. Next is a somewhat stranger category of mukbangs that are only possible through AI, which feature AI-generated people eating things like rocks, molten lava, diamonds, crystals, and more. @impossibleais Cutting Berries pt. 2! #asmr #asmrsounds #satisfying #berries #fruit green to blue (slowed + reverbed) – daniel.mp3 Most popular by far, though, are videos that include the shaving, slicing, and dicing of objects that would normally be impossible to cut. Glass fruits are a particular favorite among this crowd, with TikToks of a sliced glass blue raspberry, strawberry, and coconut accruing 4.5 million, 26 million, and 67.4 million views, respectively. @wildwhispers_asmr Glass Fruit Slicing ASMR Pt 4 #ai #fruit #asmr #fyp original sound – WildWhispersASMR The most common reaction to this content among regular ASMR enjoyers appears to be a kind of grudging appreciation. This is the only ai I approve, one user wrote in the comments of a lava-eating video. Finally ai used correctly, another commenter supplied under the aforementioned blue raspberry video. @impossibleais Cutting Glass Fruit (berry edition) #asmr #satisfying #asmrsounds #fruit green to blue (slowed + reverbed) – daniel.mp3 Still, while the majority of viewers seem to find themselves enjoying this new wave of ASMR content, its also spawning an undercurrent of existential dread at the technologys increasingly photorealistic capabilities. On nearly every viral AI ASMR video, some iteration of the same comment is among the most-liked responses: I am so getting scammed when I get older.
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Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is rumored to be marrying Lauren Sánchez in a star-studded wedding in Venice, Italy, this week. While the exact details of the celebration are being kept hidden from the public, its anticipated that an estimated 200 guests will attend the multiday event. Many locals are upset that the upcoming event will occur in their city. Activists in Venice are protesting the event due to overtourism concerns. One protest group, No Space for Bezos, has taken to social media to promote a peaceful protest event being held on Saturday, June 28. Social media posts encourage locals to show up to line the streets and block the canals. Social media posts for the @no_space_for_bezos Instagram account highlight concerns around Amazons labor practices and environmental impact, the growing economic struggles in Venice, and the e-commerce giant’s impact on small businesses worldwide. View this post on Instagram A post shared by No space for Bezos! No space for Oligarchs! (@no_space_for_bezos) The groups Instagram account, which is based in Italy and was created this month, has swelled to nearly 5,000 followers. Protest signs have been popping up around the city ahead of the wedding. One sign on the Rialto Bridge read, “No Space for Bezos!” Another banner hung from the steeple of the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore had a big red X over the word Bezos. Despite the outcry, preparations are already well underway for the upcoming wedding. Event planners respond to backlash Fast Company contacted Bezos’s team for comment. We received a copy of a statement that event organizer Lanza & Baucina Limited released last week. “From the outset, instructions from our client and our own guiding principles were abundantly clear: the minimising of any disruption to the city, the respect for its residents and institutions and the overwhelming employment of locals in the crafting of the events,” the statement read. The event planning team noted that they have taken steps to reduce disruptions. The statement continued, “Before the recent news of protests arose, we had worked for there to be minimal negative impact or disruption to the lives of Venetians and the city’s visitors. We have always acknowledged the wider debate and critical issues surrounding the city’s future, and from the outset our client has been honoured to support the city and its all-important lagoon through non-profit organisations and associated projects.” Overtourism continues to be a major concern for Venice Venice’s economy is heavily reliant on tourism. However, overtourism has long been an issue, leading to pollution, infrastructure strain, and economic challenges for locals. The City of Canals welcomed about 5.7 million visitors in 2023, according to its tourism board. Meanwhile, the local population continues to dwindle, with only about 50,000 residents living there now. The rising cost of living and lack of affordable housing have forced many residents to relocate elsewhere. City officials have taken steps to help combat the impact of overtourism. In April 2024, Venice began charging a 5 euro fee to day-trippers who visited the city. This fee applies to non-overnight guests visiting on peak days. The daily fee is now 10 euros for last-minute non-overnight visitors. In August 2024, the city council began limiting the size of tour groups to a maximum of 25 people to reduce crowds. However, these efforts have had mixed reviews, with many critics suggesting that there has been little impact.
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YouTube star Jimmy Donaldsonaka MrBeastis the face of the online video-sharing platform. He tops the platforms most-subscribed list, with more than 400 million people following his exploits. Online video has made Donaldson rich, with his business worth an estimated $1 billion. However, the megastar is now embroiled in controversy following the launch of a new AI-powered thumbnail generator. The tool, developed with the analytics platform Viewstats, was promoted in now-deleted videos by Donaldson as a way for creators to easily generate eye-catching thumbnailsincluding the ability to swap faces and styles with existing popular videos. The product was condemned by fellow YouTubers and artists, who accused MrBeast of facilitating the theft of their creative work and brand identity. Prominent creators like Jacksepticeye (i.e. Seán McLoughlin) publicly criticized the tool after his own logo and thumbnail style were used in promotional materials without his consent, calling the practice deeply unethical and harmful to the creative community. I hate what this platform is turning into. Fuck AI, Jacksepticeye posted on X. (Neither McLoughlin nor Donaldson responded to Fast Company‘s request for comment.) Donaldson quickly acknowledged the concerns, pledging to make changes to the tool. Ill build this more in a way to be inspiration for artists/a tool they use and not replace them, he posted on X. Still, the incident has gained momentum, provoking angry responses and heated debate about the endorsement of such an AI product. For example, another YouTuber, Eric Pointcrow, said of Donaldson: What a piece of work. The mini-drama has riled the YouTube community in a way few other issues have, touching on a common occurrence in the space: the copying of video thumbnails. Why? I think there are several things going on here, says Jess Maddox, associate professor at the University of Alabama, who studies platform dynamics on sites like YouTube. Primarily, Maddox believes that underlying the controversy is some good old-fashioned YouTube drama. The platform often responds as a mob to things it deems offensive, so its unsurprising that this incident has triggered so much anger. YouTube pioneered online pile-on culture, in which everyone wants a piece of someone elses name, image, or likeness, says Maddox. But its actually quite hard to go after MrBeast, whos one of the biggest and most successful creators. Hes almost too big to fail, or ride his coattails. Beyond that, Maddox points out that the technologyand the broader fear of automationis also driving the intensity of the response. AI in the creator economy is incredibly controversial right now, says Maddox. Many do view it as theft, and other creators view not using it as a badge of honorthat they can say with pride they either do all the work themselves or pay their team fairly to do so. Donaldson’s decision to launch the AI product also came just after YouTube admitted that it used a subset of the 20 billion videos on its platform to train Googles Veo 3 video generation AI modela fact that may have further amplified the backlash. Yet a recent small survey of U.K. YouTube creators suggests that up to four in five creators are already using AI themselves, saving nearly eight hours of work each week. Whats caused this backlash isnt just the tool, its what it represents, agrees Dom Smales, cofounder of GloMotion Studios, a digital entertainment studio and longstanding voice in the YouTube space. When the most powerful creator on the platform automates creativity using other creators work, it hits a nerve. It further exposes the growing gap between mega-creators and everyone else, which has to be handled carefully as this is a community above everything else. This combination of factors helps explain why the criticism has been so strong and so sustained. MrBeast clearly has enough money to pay for this work, so the fact that he isnt doesnt paint him in the most positive light, says Maddox. The idea that such AI systems might worsen existing problems is also top of mind. If the biggest YouTube creator out there is using AI, I think many creators are nervous this will unfairly exacerbate the divide between big creators and mega-creatorsnever mind the divide between those and micro- and nano-creators, Maddox says. AI is a labor issue, and it risks making an already unequal creator economy even more unequal. Yet Smales cautions that people shouldnt be so quick to vilify AIso long as its used responsibly. AI is here to stay and can be a superb tool to level creators up and allow further democratization of the creator economy, he says. Im building businesses that use it, but I believe it has to be developed with creators, not just deployed on them.
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