Overview

• Short crowd videos posted to YouTube and Instagram drew scrutiny after viewers flagged distorted faces, extra fingers and garbled signage such as “FR6SH CRINCE.”
• YouTube confirmed to The Atlantic that it is experimenting with AI image enhancement on selected Shorts, a process that can alter the appearance of uploaded clips.
• Blogger Andy Baio proposed an unverified two-layer explanation involving AI-animated still photos by Smith’s team plus YouTube’s upscaling, which could produce the observed artifacts.
• Smith and his team have not issued any public comment on the authenticity complaints or the visual glitches.
• Despite the backlash, ticket seller AEG Presents reports recent dates as sold out, with Manchester, London and Wolverhampton on the current UK schedule.