By TAIMOOR SOBHAN and KELVIN CHAN, Associated Press

One viral video shows what appears to be four sharks swimming in a Jamaican hotel’s pool as floodwaters allegedly brought on by Hurricane Melissa swamp the area. Another purportedly depicts Jamaica’s Kingston airport completely ravaged by the storm. But neither of these events happened, it’s just AI-generated misinformation circulating on social media as the storm churned across the Caribbean this week.

These videos and others have racked up millions of views on social media platforms, including X, TikTok and Instagram.

Some of the clips appear to be spliced together or based on footage of old disasters. Others appear to be created entirely by AI video generators.

“I am in so many WhatsApp groups and I see all of these videos coming. Many of them are fake,” said Jamaica’s Education Minister Dana Morris Dixon on Monday. “And so we urge you to please listen to the official channels.”

Although it’s common for hoax photos, videos and misinformation to surface during natural disasters, they’re usually debunked quickly. But videos generated by new artificial intelligence tools have taken the problem to a new level by making it easy to create and spread realistic clips.

In this case, the content has been showing up in social media feeds alongside genuine footage shot by local residents and news organizations, sowing confusion among social media users.

Here are a few steps you can take to reduce your chances of getting fooled.

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Check for watermarks

Look for a watermark logo indicating that the video was generated by Sora, a text-to-video tool launched by ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, or other AI video generators. These will usually appear in one of the corners of a video or photo.

It is quite easy to remove these logos using third-party tools, so you can also check for blurs, pixelation or discoloration where a watermark should be.

Take a closer look

Look more closely at videos for unclear details. While the sharks-in-pool video appears realistic at first glance, it looks less believable upon closer examination because one of the sharks has a strange shape.

You might see objects that blend together, or details such as lettering on a sign that are garbled, which are telltale signs of AI-generated imagery. Branding is also something to look out for as many platforms are cautious about reproducing specific company logos.

Experts say it’s going to get increasingly harder to tell the difference between reality and deepfakes as the technology improves.

Experts noted that Melissa is the first big natural disaster since OpenAI launched the latest version of its video generation tool Sora last month.

“Now, with the rise of easily accessible and powerful tools like Sora, it has become even easier for bad actors to create and distribute highly convincing synthetic videos,” said Sofia Rubinson, a senior editor at NewsGuard, which analyzes online misinformation.

“In the past, people could often identify fakes through telltale signs like unnatural motion, distorted text, or missing fingers. But as these systems improve, many of those flaws are disappearing, making it increasingly difficult for the average viewer to distinguish AI-generated content from authentic footage.”

Why create deepfakes around a crisis?

AI expert Henry Ajder said most of the hurricane deepfakes he’s seen aren’t inherently political. He suspects it’s “much closer to more traditional kind of click-based content, which is to try and get engagement, to try and get clicks.”

On X, users can get paid based on the amount of engagement their posts get. YouTubers can earn money from ads.

A video that racks up millions of views could earn the creator a few thousand dollars, Ajder said, not bad for the amount of effort needed.

Social media accounts also use videos to expand their follower base in order to promote projects, products or services, Ajder said.

So check who’s posting the video. If the account has a track record of clickbait-style content, be skeptical.

But keep in mind that the people behind deepfake videos aren’t always trying to hide.

“Some creators are just trying to do interesting things using AI that they think are going to get people’s attention,” he said.

So who is behind the account?

While it’s unclear who exactly created the pool shark video, one version found on Instagram carries the watermark for a TikTok account, Yulian_Studios. That account’s TikTok profile describes itself, in Spanish, as a “Content creator with AI visual effects in the Dominican Republic.”

The shark video can’t be found on the account’s page, but it does have another AI-generated clip of an obese man clinging to a palm tree as hurricane winds blow in Jamaica.

Trust your gut

Context matters. Take a beat to consider whether what you’re seeing is plausible. The Poynter journalism website advises that if you see a situation that seems “exaggerated, unrealistic or not in character,” consider that it could be a deepfake.

That includes the audio. AI videos used to come with synthetic voice-overs that had unusual cadence or tone, but newer tools can create synchronized sound that sound realistic.

And if you found it on X, make sure to check whether there’s a community note attached, which is the platform’s user-powered fact-checking tool.

One version of the shark pool video on X comes with a community note that says: “This video footage and the voice used were both created by artificial intelligence, it is not real footage of hurricane Melissa in Jamaica.”

Go to an official source

Don’t just rely on random strangers on the internet for information. The Jamaican government has been posting storm updates and so has the National Hurricane Center.

By MARC LEVY, Associated Press

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) — Democrats and their allied groups are pouring in more money, cutting a fresh television ad with Gov. Josh Shapiro and sending in the national party chairman in the final week of campaigning for a Pennsylvania Supreme Court election, possible signs of concern for a race that could reshape the highest court in the largest presidential battleground.

Spending in the race is on track to exceed $15 million — far surpassing previous spending in what’s called a retention election — as Democrats try to blunt a late-emerging Republican campaign to oust three Democratic justices.

The outcome will have consequences for next year’s midterm election, the 2028 presidential race and the next decade’s congressional redistricting. The nation’s most populous swing state has a politically divided government that has left disputes over election laws and other major issues to the courts in recent years.

At issue in Tuesday’s election is whether the three justices will each serve another term, up to 10 years. They don’t face opponents and are not listed by party affiliation. The ballot merely asks voters to cast a yes-or-no vote.

Retention elections are supposed to be nonpartisan, but Christine Donohue, one of the justices running to remain the bench, said she’s “shocked at the partisan nature” of the election.

“This is extraordinarily unusual,” Donohue said in an interview on Wednesday. “I suppose that’s a sign of the times, though.”

Christine Donohue, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice running for another term, acknowledges applause after speaking to the crowd at a Lancaster County Democratic Party event, Oct. 29, 2025, in Lancaster, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has a 5-2 Democratic majority, so an across-the-board loss for Democrats in Tuesday’s election could produce a 2-2 ideological split for two years. Political stalemate could likely prevent their seats from being filled until the next judicial election in 2027, potentially leaving the court unable to decide voting or election-related cases through next year’s midterm elections.

“It could lead to chaos,” Donohue said.

While the spending is far below the more than $100 million spent on a state Supreme Court election in Wisconsin earlier this year, it highlights how important these races have become for both parties because of the role state courts play in deciding redistricting disputes, lawsuits over voting and elections, and setting policy on hot-button issues such as abortion.

Donohue and the other justices up for retention, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht, were spending their final days of the campaign attending Democratic Party rallies and get-out-the-vote efforts. Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee chairman, traveled across Pennsylvania to headline events on Wednesday and Thursday.

A sign is posted in opposition to retaining Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices in the November election, in Berwyn, Pa., Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

At a Lancaster County Democratic Party meeting Wednesday evening, Martin told a couple hundred people that Republicans were trying to steal power by buying court seats so they can enact right-wing policy through the courts.

“This isn’t just about Pennsylvania,” Martin told the crowd. “Because if they win here, you can bet your bottom dollar they bring this in every single state around the country. … This is about our democracy.”

Democrats and their allies were on course to outspend Republicans by a ratio of as much as 4-to-1 after a blitz of TV ads in the final weeks to counter a wave of Republican flyers and commercials.

The TV ads supporting the justices portray them as defenders of abortion rights, union rights and voting rights. Backing them are labor unions, trial lawyers and Planned Parenthood’s political arm.

While not all spending or financial sources have been disclosed publicly, groups linked to a network that typically spends campaign contributions from Pennsylvania’s richest man, securities billionaire Jeffrey Yass, so far has spent about $2 million, according to figures from AdImpact, which tracks advertising.

A sign is posted in support of retaining Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices in the November election, in Berwyn, Pa., Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Democrats and their allies reported spending more than $7 million in October. The ACLU and Planned Parenthood are among left-leaning groups that have increased their spending late in the race as Democrats seek to counter a wave of Republican-aligned TV ads and flyers that launched in September, just before voters began casting mail ballots.

The blitz concerned Democrats. Lancaster County Democratic Party Chairman Tom O’Brien said party members were in “panic mode” as they worried about how the party would respond.

Particularly worrisome to Democrats was Republican messaging urging Democratic voters to “term limit” the justices by voting no. It was packaged with wording meant to convey sentiments typically expressed by Democrats, including “no kings” and “defend democracy.”

Democrats also realized that a major task was educating voters about what a retention election is. O’Brien and others said they are feeling better as canvassers have helped educate voters, and Democratic-aligned flyers and TV ads have flooded the state.

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In an October TV ad running in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Shapiro told viewers that the justices “have proven that we can count on them to protect a woman’s access to abortion and birth control, and stand up for all our freedoms.”

Democrats say they are satisfied with their voting-by-mail turnout in the weeks leading up to the final day of voting, but they are continuing their campaign push. On Saturday, Philadelphia labor leaders and Mayor Cherelle Parker will lead a half-day motorcade through the city to promote the justices’ campaigns.

Republicans’ most potent voice, President Donald Trump, has not waded into the election, although his name has occasionally been invoked. A Republican-aligned TV ad says, “On Nov. 4, you can help President Trump to term limit three woke Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices.”

State Republican Party Chairman Greg Rothman suggested that a “no” campaign is only natural.

“Retention shouldn’t be automatic,” he said. “Otherwise, why even have it?”

Rothman said he didn’t know whether the Republican effort would succeed but said voters already cynical about government could be motivated to vote “no.” A state government budget stalemate approaching its fifth month and the federal government shutdown could put voters in a mood to vote against any incumbent.

“Based on the Democratic Party response, and Shapiro cutting ads and all the money that trial lawyers and the national DNC is bringing in, that they must think we’re onto something,” Rothman said.

Follow Marc Levy on X at https://x.com/timelywriter

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III is stripping his brother Prince Andrew of his remaining titles and evicting him from his royal residence, Buckingham Palace said.

In a statement, the palace said Andrew will be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and not as a prince.

The move follows revelations about Andrew’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

This is a developing story; check back for updates.

By JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press

Go ahead and roll your eyes. Shrug your shoulders. Or maybe just juggle your hands in the air.

Dictionary.com’s word of the year isn’t even really a word. It’s the viral term “6-7” that kids and teenagers can’t stop repeating and laughing about and parents and teachers can’t make any sense of.

The word — if you can call it that — exploded in popularity over the summer. It’s more of an inside joke with an unclear meaning, driven by social media.

Dictionary.com says its annual selection is a linguistic time capsule reflecting social trends and events. But the site admitted it too is a bit confused by “6-7.”

“Don’t worry, because we’re all still trying to figure out exactly what it means,” the site said in its announcement this week.

How did ‘6-7’ become a thing?

It all seems to trace back to rapper Skrilla’s song from 2024 called “Doot Doot (6-7).”

That song started appearing in TikTok videos with basketball players, including the NBA’s LaMelo Ball who stands 6-foot-7.

Then a boy, now known as “The 6-7 Kid,” shouted the ubiquitous phrase while another kid next to him juggled his hands in a video that went viral this year.

That’s all it took.

So what does ‘6-7’ mean?

The real answer is no one knows.

And sometimes it depends on who’s on the receiving end of “6-7.”

Even how to write “6-7” is up for debate — is it “6 7” or “six seven?”

According to Dictionary.com, the phrase could mean “so-so,” or “maybe this, maybe that” when combined with the juggling hands gesture.

Merriam-Webster calls it a “a nonsensical expression used especially by teens and tweens.”

Some simply use it to frustrate adults when being questioned.

“It’s meaningless, ubiquitous, and nonsensical. In other words, it has all the hallmarks of brainrot,” Dictionary.com said. “Still, it remains meaningful to the people who use it because of the connection it fosters.”

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How has the rest of the world responded?

Parents and teachers have created their own videos trying to explain the sensation.

Some offer tips on how to stop their kids from repeating it all day long. Others suggest embracing it — even making “6-7” Halloween costumes — so it will become uncool.

Teachers have banned it. Influencers and child psychologists have tried to make sense of it.

It’s even spilled over into the NFL as a way to celebrate big plays.

Why is it word of the year?

Dictionary.com says it looks for words that influence how we talk with each other and communicate online.

The site scoured search engines, headlines and social media trends in making its choice. Online searches for “6-7” took off dramatically over the summer, it said, and haven’t slowed, growing by six times since June.

“The Word of the Year isn’t just about popular usage; it reveals the stories we tell about ourselves and how we’ve changed over the year,” the site said.