What are “fruit soap operas” and where does the viral phenomenon created with AI that invades TikTok come from?

These videos, broadcast mainly on TikTokbut also on Instagram and Facebook, they present dramatic stories in the style of a soap opera or a reality show, although with an unexpected twist: bananas, cherries or watermelons talk, argue and fall in love as if they were people.

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The format usually consists of short episodes of less than a minutedivided into several chapters that keep users waiting for the next “episode”, in a dynamic reminiscent of traditional television, but adapted to the consumption rate of social networks.

In many of these stories, fruit characters star in classic sentimental conflicts, such as infidelities, jealousy or love triangles. A popular example tells the drama of banana fruitwho discovers that his wife Expert cheats on him with Aguacatinoyour gym trainer.

The phenomenon is also nourished by pop culture and media stories. Some creators have recreated celebrity scandals or adapted well-known soap operas, such as “Betty the pear”a parody of the popular Colombian production I am Betty, the ugly one.

The origin of this trend is related to Fruit Love Islanda viral series generated with artificial intelligence that imitates the dating reality show Love Islandbut with talking fruits as participants.

In that series characters like Watermelinaa watermelon; Bananitoa banana; either Cherritea cherry, who compete to form a couple within the “island”, in daily episodes that have accumulated hundreds of millions of views in a few weeks.

The success has been such that even celebrities have commented on the videos on social networks, while thousands of users interact with the story by voting for their favorite couples or waiting for the next chapter.

However, the phenomenon has also generated criticism. Some experts in digital culture consider that this type of content is an example of the proliferation of material generated by artificial intelligence designed to quickly capture attentionalthough with little creative value.

Jessa Lingel, an expert in digital culture and technology at the University of Pennsylvania, told the BBC that content is, above all, “place”.

“It is of very poor quality, as we always see in AI products“Lingel said.”The amount of work we are supposed to do as humans is becoming less and less. Now you don’t even need to watch a full episode of a reality show; a reduced and sensational version, made with AI, is enough”.

“By the way, that’s why the Earth is dying” one commenter wrote under a Fruit Love Island video.

One study estimates that AI-powered data centers could consume 1.7 trillion gallons of water globally by 2027.

“We are using a huge amount of resources to create content that doesn’t really have a message or advance the debate“Lingel told the British media.

Despite the criticism, the “fruit soap operas” continue to multiply on the internet, with creators who reuse audios, invent new characters and reinterpret stories, consolidating a format that mixes humor, pop culture and artificial intelligence in clips of just a few seconds.