Social media users share AI-generated imagery of Pakistani truck transporting Indian plane wreck
"Pakistani mechanic got lucky. India should be worried. Unless this wreck was completely destroyed by a meteor, the Pakistani mechanic can bring it back to life," reads the Indonesian-language caption of an image shared on Facebook on May 13.
The image appears to show a truck loaded with the wreckage of an aircraft.
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Screenshot of false post, taken on May 20, 2025
A video showing the same truck also circulated across Indonesian social media posts making a similar claim after a ceasefire was struck between India and Pakistan on May 10 following four days of fighting -- the worst in decades between the nuclear-armed rivals -- that left more than 70 people dead on both sides (archived link).
The conflict was triggered by an April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly Hindu men, that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad. Pakistan denies the charge.
Pakistan has claimed it downed five Indian warplanes on the first day of fighting -- including three French-made Rafale fighter jets (archived link). New Delhi has not confirmed any losses.
A Google reverse image search using keyframes from the video found the imagery of the truck carting away wreckage is AI generated.
The video was shared on Instagram on May 9, 2025 by a user who offers paid tutorials on how to create similar AI videos (archived links here and here). In a subsequent comment on the post, the user said: "Made this using AI on my phone—no camera, no editing laptop."
Google's "about this image" feature also states the video was made with Google AI.
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Google's "about this image" feature shows the video was created with Google AI
The ability to detect AI-generated images is based on Google's SynthID technology, which was launched by its DeepMind AI lab in 2023 (archived here and here).
A Google spokesperson told AFP when a SynthID watermark is detected, it indicates that "the image has been generated or modified with AI".
Despite the meteoric progress in Generative AI, errors still show up in AI-generated content. These defects are the best way to recognise a fabricated image.
The licence plate of the truck seen in the circulating video contains distorted text and does not match with official plates that are currently in use in Pakistan (archived link).
AFP has debunked other misinformation stemming from the conflict between India and Pakistan here.
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