How Will Smith eating spaghetti became the ‘test’ of AI video

What do you get when you cross Will Smith with spaghetti and AI? The answer - viral videos with millions of views showing the actor seemingly tucking into a bowl of pasta.

As the star himself has said, they’ve become a “test of the evolution of AI video”. So what's it all about?

BBC Bitesize Other Side of the Story has taken a look at how the trend started and how it’s developed over time.

How did the video start?

The first 'Will Smith eating spaghetti' video was uploaded to an AI Art community forum on Reddit in March 2023. It’s been 'upvoted' thousands of times. This is the website’s equivalent of a like.

It was a post of the video shared on X a few hours later that really gained popularity. The clip has now had more than 9 million views and was picked up by media all over the world. Headlines included ‘AI Will Smith Eating Spaghetti Will Haunt You For the Rest of Your Life’.

The video was created using text to video AI video generator 'ModelScope Text To Video Synthesis'. Text to video is a type of AI generation that allows the user to create video from a text prompt - in this case "Will Smith eating spaghetti". The AI tool uses machine learning to interpret the text and create a video clip, with varying degrees of success.

Why did the original video go viral?

The video became a viral talking point because the first version was comical or nightmarish, depending on your point of view. It very clearly showed the limitations of AI tools available at the time.

The video is now seen as a benchmark for AI video success because of the technical challenges involved. The deceptively simple scenario must depict moving hands and chewing along with a range of facial expressions. It also needs to have cutlery and spaghetti that looks realistic.

What are the newest videos like - and should we be concerned?

Previously, AI technology hadn’t quite cracked generating a person eating spaghetti but it’s getting closer. The videos have become increasingly realistic, just three years after they first appeared online.

More recent versions have been created using newer AI models. This includes ‘Seedance’ which is owned by Bytedance - the Chinese company which developed TikTok, and Google Veo 3. Business and tech media company Forbes said the latter “passed the Will Smith eating spaghetti test”.

The rapid advancement of this technology means we need to be aware of more realistic deepfakes appearing on our feeds along with misinformation.

Smith has embraced the comedic side of the spaghetti video trend, however not everyone feels the same. In January, Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey trademarked his image and voice to protect them from unauthorised use by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms.

His lawyers said it is the first time an actor has attempted to use trademark law to protect their likeness from AI misuse.

What has Will Smith said about the videos?

In February 2024, Smith poked fun at the internet’s fascination with him eating spaghetti by sharing his own parody video. The clip, posted to his official Instagram account, showed him mimicking the chaotic AI clips and was captioned “This is getting out of hand”.

The post fooled some commenters, who questioned if it was also made with AI. To date, it’s had 2.7 million likes and 102,000 shares.

In an interview with a UK radio station in July 2025 the actor said: “As AI started to develop, someone put in the prompt of ‘Will Smith eating spaghetti’, so that became the test of the evolution of AI video.

“Every couple of months they do a new prompt and the latest one is the first one that’s absolutely perfect and photo real.”

One reliable way to assess the authenticity of celebrity images and videos is to consider who shared the photo and for what purpose. Many of the Will Smith spaghetti videos clearly state that they’re AI-generated, because creators want to show how realistic they are or compare them to previous versions.

Check out our tips for how to spot fake news online to make sure you don't fall foul of false images and videos.

Can you still tell if a video is made by AI?

The latest versions of the Will Smith eating spaghetti videos are incredibly realistic at first glance, showing the huge advancements made in AI video.

However there are still some key signs that can indicate whether a clip is AI generated or not. A lot of these posts will be clearly labelled as AI. You can also check captions and comments and cross-reference the image with reputable sources like news outlets or Getty Images.

When it shows a celebrity, checking their official social media accounts can be helpful. Many have millions of followers and a verified blue tick on Instagram, making it a reliable way to confirm if a post is real or not.

Like videos, a tell-tale sign of AI images is that they often get small details like text or logos wrong – and be wary of something that seems too perfect. Learn how to spot AI images on social media in Other Side of the Story's guide here.

This article was published in February 2026

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