logo
Footage bearing AI signs falsely presented as Myanmar quake aftermath

Footage bearing AI signs falsely presented as Myanmar quake aftermath

Yahoo02-04-2025

"Oh! Mandalay, it's like the city has fallen," reads the Burmese-language caption to the clip shared on Facebook one day after the quake.
It has more than 11,000 views and depicts an aerial view of a devastated city with pagodas visible on the skyline.
Text superimposed on the clip also says it shows the destruction in Mandalay.
The video also surfaced in similar posts written in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Spanish, Tamil, Thai and Urdu as reports emerged about the damage in the city from the shallow 7.7-magnitude earthquake.
The head of the ruling junta, Min Aung Hlaing, said on April 1 that 2,719 people were confirmed dead so far, with more than 4,500 injured and 441 still missing (archived link).
The toll is expected to rise significantly as rescuers reach towns and villages where communications have been cut off by the quake.
Hundreds of kilometres away, Bangkok authorities said the death toll there had risen to 20, the vast majority killed when a 30-storey skyscraper under construction in the Thai capital collapsed.
Comments to the posts indicate social media users believed the video shows genuine visuals following the quake.
"Oh! Mandalay, my heart is broken," one wrote. Another said: "There's hardly anything left in the entire town."
A reverse image search on Google using the video's keyframes found a nearly identical video on X on March 29. Although its caption does not directly indicate the clip was made with AI, the logo of the generative tool Wan AI is visible at the bottom right corner of the higher quality footage (archived link).
Visual errors also suggest the video was generated using an AI tool, according to experts.
Shu Hu, director of Purdue University's Machine Learning and Media Forensics Lab, told AFP that trees in the clip lack visible roots while a person walks in a way not consistent with natural human motion (archived link).
Siwei Lyu, director of the University at Buffalo's Media Forensics Lab, separately pointed out the Wan AI watermark, and that the shadows of objects in the clip are inconsistent in direction and size (archived link).
While there is no foolproof method to spot AI-generated media, identifying watermarks and visual defects can help, as errors still occur despite the meteoric progress in generative AI.
AFP has previously debunked misinformation related to the earthquake in Myanmar here.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

WWDC 2025 live: Updates from Apple's keynote including new iOS, iPadOS, Apple Intelligence and more
WWDC 2025 live: Updates from Apple's keynote including new iOS, iPadOS, Apple Intelligence and more

Engadget

time18 minutes ago

  • Engadget

WWDC 2025 live: Updates from Apple's keynote including new iOS, iPadOS, Apple Intelligence and more

It's time again for Apple's annual worldwide developer conference, and we're itching to see what the company will officially share today. Last year's WWDC saw the official unveiling of Apple Intelligence — the company's set of updates involving machine learning and language models that its competitors Google and Microsoft had already teed up years ago. At WWDC 2025, we expect to see the usual announcements around the next versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and visionOS. But instead of various different numbers indicating the generation of each platform like before, this year might see the company adopt a unified year-based naming standard that would result in things being called iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26 and such as opposed to iOS 19 and watchOS 12 as anticipated. If you want to watch Apple's keynote presentation for yourself, check out how to watch WWDC 2025 for details on the various places you can find the livestream. For those who prefer following along a third-party liveblog that's largely text- and image-based, scroll down for our coverage right here! The keynote starts at 1PM ET (or 10AM PT) but our liveblog begins hours before that, as we plan to share our experience and impressions live from Apple Park in Cupertino. You should absolutely join us around 10AM ET for the full experience to feel like you're right here with us. The pictures of snacks alone should be worth it. Hello! That's the first word you see when setting up a new Apple device and also on this liveblog! That was not a cliched opening for this at all! Welcome to our live coverage of WWDC 2025. Myself and deputy editor Nate Ingraham are on the ground in Cupertino to bring you all the latest from the company's keynote today. As we make our way to Apple Park, please keep us in your thoughts. I really need all the luck and good vibes to secure a seat that's comfortably situated under shade today.

Here's how Pixel battery health assistance will work to maximize your phone's lifespan
Here's how Pixel battery health assistance will work to maximize your phone's lifespan

Android Authority

time18 minutes ago

  • Android Authority

Here's how Pixel battery health assistance will work to maximize your phone's lifespan

Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority TL;DR Google Pixel devices will soon receive a new battery health assistance feature to help manage the battery's long-term health and performance. The feature will adjust the battery's maximum voltage and charging speed as it ages to prolong device usability. We've enabled the feature before the official release to get an early look at its settings page. Google plans to introduce a new battery health feature on Pixel devices to help manage the battery's long term health and performance. Details about the upcoming battery health assistance feature were first spotted shortly after Google unveiled the Pixel 9a. At the time, we learned that it would automatically adjust the battery's maximum voltage and charging speed as it ages to prolong usability. We now have an early look at its settings page ahead of the official rollout. Google recently released an update for the Settings Services app with all the necessary elements to enable the battery health assistance feature on Pixel devices. Although the feature is still not live for users, Android Authority contributor AssembleDebug manually enabled it on a Pixel 9 to grab the following screenshots. As expected, Google will add the battery health assistance feature to the Battery health settings page on Pixel phones. The page highlights that the feature will help 'manage long term battery health and performance,' and users may notice 'slight changes in charging performance and battery capacity' as the battery ages. Tapping the battery health assistance option will open a new page with a toggle to turn the feature on or off. Google has previously confirmed that the battery health assistance feature will not be limited to the Pixel 9a. The company said the feature will roll out to older Pixel phones as an optional setting this March, suggesting it may be mandatory on the Pixel 9a. If so, the battery health assistance toggle may not be available on the budget-friendly phone. Battery health assistance is expected to roll out to Pixel devices with the stable Android 16 update. We'll update this post as soon as it's available widely. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.

WWDC 2025 live: Updates from Apple's keynote including new iOS, iPadOS, Apple Intelligence updates and more
WWDC 2025 live: Updates from Apple's keynote including new iOS, iPadOS, Apple Intelligence updates and more

Engadget

time23 minutes ago

  • Engadget

WWDC 2025 live: Updates from Apple's keynote including new iOS, iPadOS, Apple Intelligence updates and more

It's time again for Apple's annual worldwide developer conference, and we're itching to see what the company will officially share today. Last year's WWDC saw the official unveiling of Apple Intelligence — the company's set of updates involving machine learning and language models that its competitors Google and Microsoft had already teed up years ago. At WWDC 2025, we expect to see the usual announcements around the next versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and visionOS. But instead of various different numbers indicating the generation of each platform like before, this year might see the company adopt a unified year-based naming standard that would result in things being called iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26 and such as opposed to iOS 19 and watchOS 12 as anticipated. If you want to watch Apple's keynote presentation for yourself, check out how to watch WWDC 2025 for details on the various places you can find the livestream. For those who prefer following along a third-party liveblog that's largely text- and image-based, scroll down for our coverage right here! The keynote starts at 1PM ET (or 10AM PT) but our liveblog begins hours before that, as we plan to share our experience and impressions live from Apple Park in Cupertino. You should absolutely join us around 10AM ET for the full experience to feel like you're right here with us. The pictures of snacks alone should be worth it. Hello! That's the first word you see when setting up a new Apple device and also on this liveblog! That was not a cliched opening for this at all! Welcome to our live coverage of WWDC 2025. Myself and deputy editor Nate Ingraham are on the ground in Cupertino to bring you all the latest from the company's keynote today. As we make our way to Apple Park, please keep us in your thoughts. I really need all the luck and good vibes to secure a seat that's comfortably situated under shade today.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store