In 2025, pranking isn’t what it used to be. The classic hidden camera or water bucket over the door has been replaced by a generative model, a misplaced prompt, and a dozen reposts on TikTok by midnight. We are living in what many are already calling the golden age of the AI prankster a time when anyone, anywhere can produce a surreal, convincing, and laugh-or-groan-inducing video with just a few clicks.
From fake speeches by historical figures, to oddball skits featuring bizarre hybrid animals or shirtless plumbers unexpectedly dancing in suburban living rooms, the internet’s feed is now bursting with videos labelled “AI-generated prank” or “just a joke”. These videos are fun, ephemeral, and shareable but they also mark a shift in how we understand authenticity, trust and humour online.
What’s Changed: Why Pranks Are So Easy Now
There are several reasons the prank world has been revolutionised by AI:
1. Powerful Tools, Low Barrier
Where once you needed cameras, lighting, actors, editing software and time, now generative video models allow creators to type a few prompts “rabbit-costume flash mob in Starbucks”, “shirtless plumber pops into Zoom meeting”, “fake MLK speech about pizza” and get something that looks plausibly “made for social”. For example, recent reporting shows that prank-type AI videos are proliferating because the tools to generate them are getting accessible and cheap.
2. Viral Friendly Format
Short-form video platforms reward shareability. A bizarre or surprising clip of a fake plumber dancing? It gets views, reposts, comments, rewinds. The algorithm loves weird. Since the content is generated (not filmed traditionally), creators can iterate quickly and test what sticks. The Hindu Times has highlighted the surge of “AI-slop gold rush” viral videos making creators money.
3. Blurred Lines of Reality
Deepfake or generative content used to be niche, but now the capability is widespread. Videos of public figures saying improbable things, or comedic mash-ups of animals and humans, are nearly indistinguishable from the “real” at casual glance. That means pranksters can craft clips that both amuse and mislead. The Indian Express editorial warns that in the age of AI-doctored videos “the fake sits right next to the authentic.”
Popular Themes in AI Prank Videos
Let’s look at a few recurring motifs:
Shirtless Plumbers & Random Cameos
A top trend: a prompt like “shirtless plumber walks into board meeting” ends up with a video of a muscular, semi-naked man in overalls barging into a corporate setting, slapstick style. Meanwhile, the audio may claim “I’m here to fix the leak … of productivity.” It’s absurd, shareable, and cheap to produce.
Strange Animal Hybrids & Bunny Botships
Another theme: rabbits, pandas, or cute animals suddenly doing human tasks like giving a TED talk or driving an office car through AI video generation. The novelty often drives engagement. The “bunny” motif is referenced in recent articles about viral AI prank videos.
Fake Historical or Famous Figures
Perhaps the more provocative category: a generative video of a historical figure or a celebrity giving a speech they never gave. For example, a fake-MLK video joking about pizza or trending social apps. These pranks tread the line between comedy and deepfake drama. These types of videos reflect the wide reach and looseness of descriptors in recent reporting.
Hidden Camera Meets Generative Video
Some pranksters use AI-generated video clips in live settings say, someone plays a fake video on a communal screen to trick a crowd, or embeds a fake speaker in a Zoom meeting. The novelty is in the surprise and the blend of real people reacting to AI-generated stimuli.
Why It’s More Than Just Funny
On the surface, these videos are just silly. On a deeper level, they reflect several bigger internet-culture and technology dynamics:
Attention Economy & Novelty
In a saturated content ecosystem, novelty is gold. AI prank videos deliver novelty fast. They exploit the viewers’ desire for something unexpected and shareable. Because they can be made quickly and iteratively, creators can ramp up output rapidly.
Trust, Authenticity & Misinformation Risks
When someone sees a convincing video of a well-known figure doing something absurd, the reaction may first be “Haha” then “Wait, is this real?” That ambiguity matters. As the Indian Express editorial notes, when fake sits next to real, the sense of wonder is lost and replaced with suspicion.
It’s one thing to watch a fake plumber dancing. It’s another to view a fake speech by a historical figure that might be mistaken for real. That raises questions about how society perceives digital media, and how easily pranks or satire can shift into misinformation or emotional manipulation.
Monetisation & Creator Economy
These videos aren’t just jokes: creators are chasing views, ad revenue, sponsorships. The “AI-slop gold rush” commentary points out that bizarre AI videos are making money. That means creators are incentivised to produce more, often pushing boundaries further.
Legal, Ethical and Psychological Impact
Pranks have always had risk. But when you combine anonymity, generative models, and shareable platforms, the stakes rise. For instance, an “AI homeless man prank” caused real police dispatches and upset among victims. Though the new article is about prank videos specifically, that example shows how generative prank content can blur into actionable harm.
The Upside and the Danger
The Fun Side
-
Creative expression: People are experimenting with formats, hybrid-genres, absurd comedy aided by AI.
-
Democratization: You don’t need a video crew just the right prompt and editing, meaning more voices can try it.
-
Virality: For brands or creators, a smart AI prank video can hit millions of views, fast.
The Dark Side
-
Erosion of trust: When people can’t be sure if a clip is genuine or CGI prank, scepticism grows maybe correctly so.
-
Harassment & abuse: Prank videos could target individuals, use AI to impersonate or shame people, use fake identities.
-
Legal liability: If you fake a serious scenario (intruder at home, emergency), you might provoke panic or waste resources. The “AI homeless man prank” shows how real harm can arise.
-
Ethical issues: Historical or real-figure impersonation for humour may cross moral lines (e.g., using MLK or other figures). The difference between satire and disrespect can be thin.
-
Saturation & backlash: If everything becomes a prank, users may get fatigued. Platforms or audiences may push back against low-effort generative content.
Why Now? The Perfect Storm
Several trends converged to produce this boom in AI prank videos:
-
Generative video tools matured: Where a few years ago deepfakes were rare and technical, now they’re accessible and fast.
-
Short-form video platforms dominate: TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts favour quick, shocking, funny content. AI pranks check those boxes.
-
Lower production cost: Creators can skip cameras, directors, lighting and use models instead. That means more content, faster turnaround.
-
Cultural appetite for surreal and absurd: In an age of real news overload, audiences sometimes prefer weird humour to serious. Pranks offer a release valve.
-
Monetary incentives: More views = more revenue; pranks that surprise generate higher engagement, which platforms reward.
What’s Next? Trends to Watch
The Prank Arms Race
As more creators jump in, we’ll likely see an escalation: more elaborate scenarios, higher fidelity deepfakes, mixed reality pranks combining real actors + AI avatars, maybe even live-injected pranks in streaming.
Platform Response & Regulation
Platforms may tighten rules: labelling AI-generated content, raising detection efforts, removing impersonation. Regulators may explore whether certain prank formats constitute harassment, defamation, or misuse of likeness.
Creator Ethics & Genre Fatigue
As audiences get used to the style, novelty may fade. Creators will need to up-their game or risk being dismissed as “AI prank spam”. Ethical boundaries may also become more visible when does a prank move from humour to harm?
Misinformation Crossover
What begins as a lighthearted prank might bleed into more serious arenas: political manipulation, reputational damage, identity fraud. The line between “funny” and “dangerous” is narrowing.
Detection Technology & Media Literacy
As the volume of fake/generated media explodes, users will need better tools to decipher what’s real. Media literacy, forensic detectors, platform labeling these will grow in importance.
Real-World Example: Fake MLK, Shirtless Plumbers & Bunny Pranks
One recent feature article described the phenomenon: “Shirtless plumbers, bunnies, and fake MLK: AI-generated video pranks are swamping the internet.”
In the article’s examples:
-
A video of a famous civil-rights leader apparently giving a modern speech about social media trends.
-
Clips of absurd animals rabbits dressed as C-suite executives delivered via AI.
-
Content tagging “prank” but designed to look plausibly “real enough” to trigger a reaction.
These cases highlight how pranking has evolved: not just “funny surprise” but “what if this were real?” The audience’s first reaction is shock, then laughter, then a question: “Did someone make this?”
The Cultural Verdict
Are AI-prank videos harmless fun? For many viewers yes they’re a quick laugh, shareable, low stakes. But culturally, these pranks reflect some uneasy themes:
-
Scepticism of media: When you can’t trust video, you question everything. That may lead to cynicism or fatigue.
-
Shift in humour norms: Comedy is more artificial, more fast-paced, more shock-based. The craft of traditional prank may reduce.
-
Boundary-pushing: As pranks escalate, they may transgress social norms more often mocking figures, mixing truth and fiction.
-
Tech gatekeeping: Because making the videos still requires tools, some creators gain power. There may be a divide between those who can produce viral AI pranks and those who cannot.
We’ve entered an era where pranks aren’t just filmed with a hidden camera they’re generated with a prompt. The golden age of the AI prankster is both exhilarating and unsettling. It offers creativity at scale, but also raises questions about authenticity, intent and impact.
When a rabbit gives a boardroom speech, or a historical figure pops up in a meme-video, we laugh but we also pause. Because today’s prank might be tomorrow’s disinformation.
Humour will continue, but the medium is changing. And if we’re going to keep laughing, we’ll also need to keep asking: who created this, why, and is it harmless?
Because in the world of AI-video pranks, the joke may be on all of us.
