Generative AI videos that demean Chinese people while glorifying Japan are rapidly spreading across Japanese online platforms. Analysts say an AI-driven hate video industry, chasing advertising revenue, is operating in an organized manner.
"The World Was Amazed by the Shinkansen"… Sensational Titles Target the Elderly
According to Japan's Asahi Shimbun on Tuesday, a large volume of videos praising Japan or negatively portraying Chinese people is being distributed on video platforms, with many failing to disclose whether they depict real events or fabricated stories.
Most of the videos consist of AI-generated images and synthetic voices. They use sensational titles such as "The world was amazed by Japan's Shinkansen" or "Chinese people who damaged cherry blossoms showed abnormal symptoms," designed to provoke viewers' emotions. Some videos have garnered hundreds of thousands of views, generating advertising revenue for their posters.
The production process even follows a manual. The newspaper reported that instructions include setting facility names and place names as real locations — even for fictional stories — and making voices as easy to understand as possible, since the main audience is elderly. Entering a phrase such as "Chinese people protesting loudly" into an AI system produces a convincing image within minutes.
Subcontracted Worker in His 20s: "No Ideology, Just a Side Job"
The testimony of a man in his 20s who took on such video editing work as a subcontractor also drew attention.
"I saw a job posting for 'work on China-critical overseas-reaction YouTube videos' on a job site and started two years ago. I had no particular ideology or resentment toward foreigners," he said. "I started with a light heart." The fact that the work could be handled easily from home was another reason he got involved.
"At first I felt uneasy, but I thought viewers would obviously realize it was fiction," he said. However, doubts began to emerge six months into the job. When he searched for the videos he had made, he found them posted one after another on platforms.
Asahi pointed out that "behind internet videos that stir up hatred in viewers and sometimes distort their thinking lies an 'efficient money-making structure' in which faceless people are connected to mass-produce videos with AI."
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