AI is being used more and more in video production, but not all reactions are positive.
A promotional video by England’s The Hundred cricket team Manchester Super Giants showing off their new kit has been heavily panned by social media users. Users pointed to out obvious flaws in the video which gave away that it was AI generated, and decried it as AI slop.
The video was meant to announce Manchester Super Giants’ new kit, which blended the colours of the two biggest football teams from the city. “A city divided by football through the winter, emerges united for our summer,” the team’s account said on X. “Presenting Manchester Super Giants’ new threads,” it added.
But X users pointed out to some glaring cricketing flaws in the video. A user pointed out that Aiden Markram — the team’s likely captain — was bowling without a ball in his hand. Worse, Markram was shown as a fast bowler in the video, while he’s an off-spiner. And more bizarrely, there are batsmen in their test match whites in the background while Markram is wearing the coloured Hundred kit.
Another user said that the wicket-keeper was wearing batting gloves — an obvious faux pas. Users also pointed out to how the floodlights were lit in what was clearly a day game.
Another still from the video showed a Manchester Super Giants player grassing and dropping a catch — which felt odd for a video shared by their own team.
It’s clear that AI doesn’t seem to yet have enough training data to accurately capture the nuances of the game, and doesn’t really understand the rules. But the team’s management seemed oblivious to this, and shared the video on their social media profiles anyway. The public’s reaction has been brutual, with the post having just 8 reposts and over 200 quote posts at the time of writing. AI is being increasingly used in production by companies like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and even in movies, but it seems that not all efforts are landing at the moment.