High school football recruits using AI-generated highlight tapes is on the rise

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Games are still played on the field and what's real always comes to light. There are clear differences, and you know when you have studied enough real film what's fake or manufactured.

Artificial Intelligence in college football

The world of artificial intelligence has crashed into college football. This is for a few reasons. High school football highlight tapes aren't shot with the best gear and could be manipulated to look real. But after further review, there are noticeable differences from the actual game footage provided by the school. What's too good to be true, usually is in most everything in life.

Here's a look at plays all edited to appear better in a tweet below. 

A quick-hitting reel can spark a conversation, but true recruiters are on the trail talking to all parties involved to make connections. Just like a resume, a series of highlights will get you in the room, but you still have to show you can do the job.

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Some athletes are using AI tools to fabricate tapes, and it's becoming part of the business. The only way to weed out what's real or not is to watch from the stands. Any coaches who sign players off just looking at tapes alone will have a real problem in the digital age of advanced technology.

AI Manipulation can look outstanding but it's not "out of this world"

There can be many ways to use AI to "fix" videos. Some techniques are more subtle than others. The edits can alter throws, make reads appear cleaner for a QB, remove would-be tacklers from a play, and simulate space that simply doesn't exist. But like anything with this type of technology, everything feels unnatural.

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Yet, this version of AI is beta. It's not perfect, which leads to the question about what happens when it becomes so realistic we can't tell the difference? Well, either highlight tapes will become a thing of the past or recruits will have to pay to verify a tape is real. But one thing is clear, any footage deemed fake will end a player's relationship with the school immediately.

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