Tiktoker Tricks Fans Into Smashing Their Tech

Controversial streamer Adin Ross has a rabid fanbase that’ll do anything for attention, including driving a car into a lake because…reasons. These dare streams of Ross’ tend to come with the promise of a carrot at the end of the proverbial stick, whether that comes in the form of expensive products or cold hard cash. Unfortunately, with the proliferation of artificial intelligence, a TikToker is capitalizing off Ross’ dare streams, using AI to pose as the popular Kick creator to troll his fanbase into smashing their shit for gifts and money.

TikToker JohnJam11703 recently posted several clips of his fake, AI-created Adin Ross tricking stans into breaking things. With the help of tech like the AI repository Hugging Face, the random video chat app Monkey, and archived footage from Ross’ various Kick streams, JohnJam11703 crafted a convincing enough Ross that folks took seriously online. In one example, they got a kid to throw a PlayStation 4 out of the window in exchange for a new TV and a PlayStation 5. In another, JohnJam11703 persuaded a different kid to punch and break their TV for $500. One of JohnJam11703's most popular clips, posted on April 20, was of AI Adin Ross promising a kid a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and $20,000 if they put a hole in their bedroom wall. After getting permission from their mom, the kid did it with the help of a bat. Of course, these kids are more than likely not actually receiving these gifts.

There appear to be two factions in the comments of JohnJam11703's TikToks. One side believes this is the evilest thing ever, while the other calls this a good use of AI. Personally, while I think it’s funny how gullible folks can be, I feel bad for these kids. They just want senpai to notice them, and when senpai does, of course they’ll do whatever senpai wants in order to retain that attention—regardless of whether senpai is real or not.

Kotaku has reached out to Ross and JohnJam11703 for comment.

The real Adin Ross hasn’t said anything about this AI imposter trolling his fans. However, after getting permanently banned from Twitch in February 2023 for showing his unhinged Kick chat on the Amazon-owned livestreaming platform, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy appears down to chat with Ross about getting him unbanned.

This article originally appeared on Kotaku.