The AI meme war between the US and Iran is evolving. A few weeks ago, AI-generated Lego propaganda videos were a curiosity. Sometimes funny, often violent, always troublesome and never diplomatic, they quickly gained millions of views across social media. The White House Twitter (X) account was responsible for the US videos.

An Iranian media company called Explosive Media, the Iranian.America - either put off by the global consensus that it was losing the war (if you want to see their earlier Lego, Grand Theft Auto, Wii Sports and Call of Duty efforts, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R58dlaNaGIE&t=14s) - or bored, switched their AI models to tax season.

Iran, losing the guns and missiles part of proceedings, would change tact. Explosive Media turned up the heat. And was duly banned from YouTube.Which could of unleashed the beast. Now Iranian embassies are posting them on Twitter (X) and US creators are using the same format to mock whatever's in the news cycle - and whatever is on their mind. And a new Lego-style AI propaganda video shows Pete Hegseth getting drunk as a pirate, for example.

The Iranian embassy in South Africa posted an AI-generated clip of Trump as a French Europop keyboardist singing about blockading the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian Embassy in Zimbabwe posted a video of Trump addressing a briefing room of US soldiers. When the soldiers leave, Trump takes off his mask revealing the face of Netanyahu. All fun and games.

The AI gurus, especially those who have been telling anyone who will listen Hollywood is doomed, celebrate the democratization of the AI tools, not a bubble of irony in their LinkedIn posts... Because this is really the Fake news story with its own mask on.

And where does this go when the French, US, German, Mexican, Argentinian or Italian general elections all hit over the next two years?

What happens to AI tools and democracy when every North Korean and Russian bot farm is an army of highly trained, skilled and determined video prompters? And what happens when its not Lego figures, but hyper realistic videos of politicians doing and saying things they haven't done or said?

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TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Explosive Media

(00:38) US Bowling Iran

(01:52) Trump's Mask

(03:20) Blockade, Blockade

(06:28) Drunken Hegseth

(08:00) Truth

AI Diplomacy Was Never Meant To Be Like This