AI-generated videos and audios of Pope Leo XIV are populating rapidly online, racking up views as platforms struggle to police them.

An AFP investigation identified dozens of YouTube and TikTok pages that have been churning out AI-generated messages delivered in the pope's voice or otherwise attributed to him since he took charge of the Catholic Church last month.

The hundreds of fabricated sermons and speeches, in English and Spanish, underscore how easily hoaxes created using artificial intelligence can elude detection and dupe viewers.

"There's natural interest in what the new pope has to say, and people don't yet know his stance and style," said University of Washington professor emeritus Oren Etzioni, founder of TrueMedia.org , a nonprofit focused on fighting deepfakes.

"A perfe

See Full Page