Did a widely-shared video show authentic footage of a news report describing missing couple Mark and Jennifer Patterson being rescued after having been lost at sea for 25 years? No, that's not true: The clip in question was the product of AI. The account that posted the video is self-described AI and included the words "ai satire news" in the caption.
The video appeared in an August 2, 2025, post on TikTok (archived here), with the caption:
FOUND ALIVE AFTER 25 YEARS LOST AT SEA! 😱🌊 They vanished sailing to Bahamas in 1999. Found yesterday living on a MASSIVE RAFT they built from ocean trash! They had gardens, water collection, solar panels - all from debris. #news #realscarytok #survival #ocean #lost #found #25years ai satire news #plastic #rescue #incredible #survivors #ocean #family #reunion
The video garnered more than 4.2 million views in two days. It can be watched below:
@realscarytok COUPLE FOUND ALIVE AFTER 25 YEARS LOST AT SEA! 😱🌊 They vanished sailing to Bahamas in 1999. Found yesterday living on a MASSIVE RAFT they built from ocean trash! They had gardens, water collection, solar panels - all from debris. #news #realscarytok #survival #ocean #lost #found #25years ai satire news #plastic #rescue #incredible #survivors #ocean #family #reunion ♬ original sound - ScaryTok
This is a screenshot of the caption that clearly says "ai satire news":
(Image source: Screenshot of August 2, 2025, post by tiktok.com/@realscarytok)
The video was therefore self-described AI-generated.
The same account, @realscarytok, has posted other news report-style videos with similar hashtags that describe the footage as "#aivideo" or "#veo3" -- a reference to Google's DeepMind's advanced AI model for generating videos -- for example this May 28, 2025 post (archived here):
(Image source: Screenshot of May 28, 2025, post by tiktok.com/@realscarytok)
