Was their love artificial all along?
In a viral TikTok from earlier this year, Mia Dio, 22, claimed that her boyfriend, Billy, had been acting suspiciously.
Dio — who has 5.2 million followers on the platform — decided to do some sleuthing with the help of artificial intelligence.
Using AI software, Dio was able to replicate Billy’s voice for a phone call with one of his friends. In a recording of the conversation, Billy’s friend seemingly confirms the influencer’s worst nightmare — that Billy had kissed someone else only the night before.
The video quickly went viral, racking up 2.7 million views and comments lauding the “genius” hack for tracking down cheaters.
But what if we told you it was all an elaborate experiment?
“Important context here is that this video was fully a prank on my fans, and both my boyfriend and friend were in on it,” Dio revealed in an interview with NeedToKnow.co.uk.
“We were surprised at the number of people who believed this happened,” Dio said with a laugh.
The TikTok star explained that she wanted to test the barriers of new technology, which has led to so many new possibilities with cheating and relationships.
“I think that with technology and social media, it is so much easier for people to cheat because there’s so much access,” Dio said. “The flip side there is that it’s also much easier to get caught, which is why I believe there’s such a cheating epidemic.”
Dio used ElevenLabs to clone Billy’s voice for her experiment, which set her back only $4. Though she and her boyfriend are still “happily together,” Dio said that this kind of hack would’ve saved her “a lot of time” with a previous two-timing ex.
“I’ve definitely had other girls reach out with similar concerns since,” she concluded.