ToplineThe hit summer dating show “Love Island” won’t return to screens until June, but one TikTok account has taken advantage of the drought by posting shoddy AI-generated videos depicting human-like fruits on a near-identical dating show, racking up hundreds of millions of views within days while also sparking criticism that the series is “AI slop.” The AI-generated "Fruit Love Island" series has gone hugely viral on TikTok. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)Getty ImagesKey FactsThe mega-viral, AI-generated faux “Love Island” series follows a group of anthropomorphic fruits, with names like “Cherrita,” “Bananito” and “Strawberrina,” in a format that matches the original show almost exactly, complete with the show’s theme music.The uncanny characters of “Fruit Love Island” have either fruits for heads or skin tones inspired by their respective fruits, but are otherwise fashioned in the style of real “Love Island” contestants, with the AI creations wearing swimsuits and boasting defined abs while living in a villa. The series spans 19 episodes so far, typically running for two to four minutes, all of which have been uploaded over the past nine days by the TikTok user @ai.cinema012.TikTok has slapped each video with a warning that it applies to all AI-generated content on the platform, saying, “Contains AI-generated media,” though it’s unclear which AI tool was used to create “Fruit Love Island.”The videos have reached a staggering audience: Almost every episode so far has surpassed 10 million views, with the entire account totaling nearly 300 million views and 23 million likes across all its videos within just days, while the account has racked up 3.2 million followers.The @ai.cinema account says in its bio it will release new episodes every day, and it maintains a Google form asking viewers for plot suggestions, specifically seeking “drama,” “messiness” and “backstabbing.”Forbes has reached out to ITV, the United Kingdom-based network that created and owns the rights to “Love Island,” for comment.How Has “fruit Love Island” Surged In Popularity?The “Fruit Love Island” series has driven massive engagement, including by soliciting audience participation, which likely raises its profile in TikTok’s “For You Page” algorithm. The creator has asked viewers to vote multiple times, much like they would for the real “Love Island,” with viewers able to determine who each fruit can couple up with. The “Fruit Love Island” series also mimicked a real challenge from the original show, in which the host reads viewer comments to the contestants. The series has also benefited from TikTok users recording and posting reactions and commentary about the show—the hashtag #FruitLoveIsland has been used in more than 25,000 posts. “Fruit Love Island” has also garnered some famous fans, including Michael Salzhauer, who posts as “Dr. Miami” to his millions of TikTok followers, and the Slim Jim TikTok account, with both commenting on numerous “Fruit Love Island” videos. Kaylor Martin, star of “Love Island USA” season six, also posted a video of herself and fellow castmate JaNa Craig reacting to “Fruit Love Island,” in which they laughed and joked about the AI videos. Could “fruit Love Island” Violate Copyright Law?It’s unclear whether ITV has consented to the “Fruit Love Island” series or given AI video generators permission to use its intellectual property, but some Hollywood studios and production companies have previously threatened legal action against AI video tools—including ByteDance’s Seedance—for using copyrighted material without permission. AI video generators allowing potential copyright infringement has garnered considerable controversy, and last week, Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., sent a letter to ByteDance accusing it of “advancing the AI sector’s trend of stealing works at the creative community’s expense.” Key Background“Fruit Love Island” includes the name and theme music of the popular British reality show “Love Island,” which first aired in 2005 before rebooting in 2015. The franchise has spawned many international editions, including an American version, which has aired seven seasons and earned record viewership last summer. Chief Critics“Fruit Love Island” has sparked backlash from critics who have deemed it an example of “AI slop”—a popular pejorative for AI-generated content that is accused of lacking quality or value. The most-liked comment on the first episode of “Fruit Love Island,” liked more than 130,000 times, says, “we’ve officially lost our f—ing minds.” One TikTok user garnered 2.4 million likes saying she is “watching our clean water get wasted because people wanna watch fruit love island,” referring to possible environmental detriments of AI usage. Criticism spilled over onto X, where one user garnered 38,000 likes calling “Fruit Love Island” the “most boring mind numbing sh— ive ever watched,” and another accrued 80,000 likes saying, “honestly even if ai wasnt environmentally destructive id still think ur a dumb loser if ur genuinely entertained by ai fruit love island.”Further Reading'AI slop' videos may be annoying, but they're racking up views — and ad money (NPR)