In a viral TikTok video, celebrity podcaster Joe Rogan appears to deliver a damning message: “We are all probably going to die in the next few years. Did you hear about this? There’s this asteroid that is on a collision course with Earth.” This information was kept top secret by the state, he insists, but then leaked by a US agency worker named Jonathan Brown. In fact, the video is a sham, experts say. While the images are of Rogan, the audio appears to be a fake artificial intelligence-generated clone of his voice, according to non-profit Media Matters. And the asteroid covered up by the government? A baseless conspiracy theory. There is nothing to suggest that Rogan was knowingly involved in the clip.

The post, which was eventually taken down by TikTok, is part of an emerging phenomenon whereby online creators are pumping out conspiracy-laden videos across social platforms, often with the aid of new AI tools. Garnering millions of views, the conspiracies range from the lightly fantastical to the totally bonkers — that the CIA has hidden a mythical “hellhound” in a cave in the Grand Canyon, for example — and tend to follow a distinctive pattern. 

“You start with an unhinged statement to grab attention — a viral hook,” says Abbie Richards, senior video producer at Media Matters, who has been tracking the conspiracy material, which is usually enhanced or entirely created by AI. “Then you have a back-story with a fake character who is usually very rugged and then they discover some kind of secret.”