An idealised version of Gaza was portrayed in Hulu’s anti-Hamas ad. It is speculated to be made using artificial intelligence and it claims Gaza as a paradise destination that could exist if not for the Hamas.
The short ad opens up like a tourism ad showing palm trees and coastlines with five star hotels and children playing. A voiceover encourages visitors to “experience a culture rich in tradition” as we see people dancing, eating and laughing. Suddenly, the tone shifts of a smiling man into a grimacing one.
“This is what Gaza could have been like without Hamas,” the narrator says as a series of new images flash but this time of fighters and weapons and children wandering the streets with artillery.
The 30 second ad made with the help of AI flattens the decades old conflict between Israel and Palestinians to spread the message of peace and anti-Hamas. Although the anti-Hamas agenda of the ad cannot possibly cover the entire political scenario of Gaza or pinpoint on some parties to blame, it still portrays a snippet of what is happening.
As of last week 25,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October. 1.9 million people in Gaza, that is 85% of its population has been predicted by the UN to have been displaced.
This supposedly AI generated reimagining of Gaza strongly resembles the TikTok trend of using AI to render alternate histories. AI seems to be used as a cheap production tool. This tool has allowed people to reimagine and almost experience an alternative perspective that doesn’t exist.
This is not the first time there have been pro-Israeli ads in the market. Last fall, graphic pro-Israel ads made their way into children’s video games too.
This ad shows the potential of AI and how they can be continued to be used for influencing the masses. Stock images had to be used to create such ads before generative AI but now the AI does the job much easier.
