What is the 'AI zoom out' trend on TikTok, and why are users concerned?
A recent trend on TikTok has opened users’ imaginations to another feature of artificial intelligence (AI), and it has raised some concerns in the process.
Many TikTokers have participated in the zoom-out trend, which uses a CapCut template and AI to zoom out from an original image and add an artificial background that fills out the rest of the picture. Someone taking a close-up selfie, for example, would input the picture into the filter and let the technology create the background for the photo based on where it assumes you are. These videos, which are often found under the hashtag #Iautocompleta, have amassed over 3.5 billion views on TikTok.
This filter uses generative technology that allows the user to fill in what’s around the initial photo. The sound effect also contributes to the photo’s unsettling vibe. The ominous boom and clicking noises when the picture zooms out adds to the fact that AI has altered the image. Products such as Google Photos and Adobe Photoshop also use this technology, and some users find it a little unnerving.
“Nah cause this AI filter is (lowkey scary),” wrote Konner Burrell (@konner_basbul34). Other people in the comments were surprised by how accurate the technology was in creating the surroundings for the picture.
Mia Blume, an AI expert and technology design coach based in San Francisco, spoke with Yahoo News to explain why some TikTokers might find this trend unsettling.
“It feels a little too magical sometimes. You might wonder, how did it know? It doesn’t,” she said, referring to the seeming accuracy with which it chooses artificial backgrounds. “It just makes the best guess it can based on the information within the image provided and its training material to find common patterns.”
How the TikTok zoom-out feature works
To create this effect, a user will have to upload their desired picture into the CapCut template. The AI software will zoom out and create a new picture. After that, users then screenshot the altered picture and place it into the next slot in the template. Repeat this process until the video is complete and all the potential 12 slots are filled. Then the video will be finished.
TikTok creator Fleur Jansen (@fleurejansen) posted a video using the trend to expand pictures of different meals, selfies and her cat.
https://www.tiktok.com/@fleurejansen/video/7311358195711184161
“This is sooo weird,” she writes in the video.
Over 30 million people saw her post, and the comments were split on how they felt about this trend.
“It took me a minute to get this ... this is freaky,” replied @c_smittyy.
“I acc don’t get it what’s so weird about it?” commented @rh2k4.
While Jansen highlights the concerns with how believable some of her artificial backgrounds appear, other TikTokers think this an interesting trend and have tried it out for themselves.
“This filter is tuff fr,” KD (@iiamkdn) writes on his zoom-out TikTok post.
In addition to expanding the surroundings of pictures, some TikTokers have pushed the trend forward by asking AI to essentially create the entire picture, starting from just the eye.
“This one is definitely the scariest,” replied @finitobro.
Because of how powerful these systems are, Blume also cautions that the applications of AI could be dangerous outside of TikTok because of how some users are able to create deep fakes and altered media.
https://www.tiktok.com/@inventbeast/video/7246553127560809735?q=deep%20fakes&t=1704395469009
“As the tools get more sophisticated, I can only imagine we will see more people using them to generate more sophisticated scams that leverage photos, voice and maybe even video to deceive people we know and trust. It really puts their users at risk,” she said.
