Amazon Mothership Viral Video Is a Brilliantly Disturbing Fake

A video depicting an Amazon logo-emblazoned airship launching a swarm of delivery drones is a computer-generated fake, Gizmodo reported on Tuesday.

午後のネタバレ。信じてる人は皆無だろうけど一応。thetaVでHDRI作ってそのままライティングした。後ろに余計なものも入れてみたけどあまり気づかれてない模様。 pic.twitter.com/o4P8z5agz9

— zozi(厳島神社の人） (@zozi009) April 1, 2019

The well-produced video, created by Twitter user @zozi009, had social media abuzz.

“I for one welcome my Amazon drone overlords ,” said Twitter user @Eric_Peterson_.

“Is it me or has Amazon become the indestructible alien spaceship from the movie Independence Day,” said Twitter user @QTRResearch.

Though some immediately expressed skepticism about the authenticity of the video, others were instantly convinced.

The relative ease with which some viewers accepted the CGI scene as real may be explained in part by the patent application that likely inspired its creation.

Amazon patented its vision for an “airborne fulfillment center” back in 2016, as CNBC explained. The patent describes a flying warehouse and drone launching pad that could be used to deliver goods to small locations densely packed with buyers–a football stadium, for example.

Though zozi009’s video is not real nor does it appear at all malicious, it does highlight the very real issue of “fake news.”

It serves as a good example of some of the elements fake news purveyors employ in order to gain traction.

First, it appears to be within the realm of possibility. Blimps and drones are real, as is Amazon’s patent to create a floating launchpad and its exploration of drone-based delivery services.

Second, it plays on widely-held fears or common sources of anxiety. Security and privacy experts long ago sounded the alarm about technology slipping its leash.

Finally, it includes visual “proof.” In this case, the “proof” was CGI–no one appears to have been harmed, and it all seems to be in good fun.

In other cases, video “proof” may be real, in that it faithfully depicts an actual scene at a given point in time. In the absence of context, however, viewers can draw profoundly inaccurate conclusions which result in wide-ranging damage. The 2018 case of Covington Catholic student Nicholas Sandmann is one such case.