“Distorted faces” & “extra digits” fuel AI rumours in Will Smith’s new tour video

Will Smith’s latest tour video is attracting attention for what some believe are tell-tale signs of AI.

The actor and rapper, who recently kicked off the UK leg of his Based on a True Story tour in Scarborough on August 24, shared the clip on his official YouTube channel with the caption “My favorite part of tour is seeing you all up close. Thank you for seeing me too.”

Uploaded to YouTube Shorts and Instagram, the video captures emotional moments between Smith and his fans, with audience members waving signs and cheering him on.

Signs include one that reads “We <3 You Willy” and another thanking Smith for helping a fan survive cancer.

But while the messages were moving, viewers couldn’t help noticing odd details in the visuals.

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Some faces look blurred or stretched, hands appear strangely shaped, and in a few cases, audience members even seem to have six fingers. In one scene, a fan’s knuckle merges awkwardly into the poster he’s holding, while the headband of the woman behind him somehow overlaps another wrist.

This has led many online to suspect AI-generated crowd shots.

Some comments on the YouTube Shorts video include: “You can see many people in the crowd having 6 fingers or more, eyes smudged, faces are distorted. Proving that certain (well, almost all clips that show the audience) are AI generated.” and “I like to pause this video and see your crowd close up too. Lots of extra digits in this crowd”.

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One also states: “if you zoom in whenever it pans around at the end and you can see a whole bunch of people, their faces are just terrifying. They're not even really faces.”

The speculation places Smith’s video in the wider trend of artificial intelligence creeping into music and entertainment.

AI has already been linked to fabricated bands, synthetic songs, and even entirely fake photos of music icons— including one of Mick Jagger, Elton John, and Rod Stewart singing at Ozzy Osbourne’s memorial, as reported by Music News.

Meanwhile, generative AI apps continue to surge in popularity.

According to Sensor Tower, downloads in Asia jumped 80% between late 2024 and mid-2025, far outpacing Europe (51%) and North America (39%).

Via: Rolling Stone

Amira Waworuntu is Mixmag Asia’s Managing Editor, follow her on Instagram.

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