Latest news with #HailuoAI
AFP
2 days ago
- Politics
- AFP
AI-generated video of overflowing river falsely linked to Myanmar floods
"Myawaddy Road, Karen State. Several vehicles were damaged due to the landslide. June 1, 2025, 4:30 pm," reads a Burmese-language Facebook post on June 1, 2025. The video -- which has racked up more than 3.3 million views -- shows a river raging through a mountain pass highway with vehicles and people stranded along the muddied banks. The Myawaddy Road is a major trade route connecting Myanmar to neighbouring Thailand, which has often been closed off in the ongoing civil war -- sparked by a military coup that deposed Myanmar's civilian leadership in 2021 (archived links here and here). Image Screenshot of a false Facebook post taken on June 9, 2025 The video circulated after local media reported flooding in northern Myanmar along the Irrawaddy river basin following persistent heavy rainfall in early June (archived link). It also surfaced elsewhere on Facebook in Burmese posts as well as on TikTok. However, the video was fabricated using AI. A reverse image search on Google found an identical TikTok video published on May 28, 2025 with an "AI-generated" label (archived link). Checks of the same TikTok account showed it has repeatedly shared AI-generated videos of natural disasters (archived links here and here). Image Screenshot comparison of the false Facebook post (L) and the original TikTok video Joao Tourinho, who runs the TikTok account that posted the video, told AFP on June 10 that he created the video using the Hailuo AI tool, a text-to-video generation software. "I regret that people use content that is declared to be created by AI to spread false information," he said. "My YouTube channel and TikTok profile show that all of my creations are for those who enjoy apocalyptic entertainment created by AI." A close inspection of the clip also shows visual inconsistencies typical of AI-generated videos, such as oddly-shaped vehicles, cars merging into one another and a damaged white car suddenly appearing in the scene. Image Visual inconsistencies highlighted by AFP Although generative AI technology is improving rapidly, visual inconsistencies persist and are the best way to identify fabricated content. Other AFP debunks of AI-generated imagery can be found here.
AFP
08-04-2025
- Politics
- AFP
Video of Volodymyr Zelensky kneeling before Saudi officials is AI-generated
" ," reads the Burmese caption of a Facebook video posted on March 13, 2025. The video, which has been viewed more than 150,000 times, shows Zelensky shaking hands with a Saudi official before he appears to drop to his knees in supplication. Overlaid text on the video reads, "Some kneeling is necessary for success, humility yields good results." Image Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on April 7, 2025 The video circulated after Ukrainian and US officials held crunch talks in Saudi Arabia over ending the war with Russia (archived link). Kyiv endorsed an American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire and agreed to immediate negotiations with Russia during the talks in Jeddah, prompting US President Donald Trump's administration to lift a freeze on military aid and to predict the end of the three-year conflict. The agreement was reached despite Trump and Zelensky clashing in the White House weeks earlier, with the US president and Vice President JD Vance accusing the wartime leader of disrespect and ingratitude (archived link). The same video purportedly showing Zelensky kneeling down to his Saudi hosts were also shared in similar posts on Facebook and TikTok. "He really loves his country," read a comment on one of the posts. Another read: "I respect and pity him a lot." The video, however, was generated by AI. Watermark and visual errors A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to similar footage captured of Zelensky arriving in Jeddah on May 19, 2023 to attend an Arab League summit. Video of Zelensky arriving in Jeddah, posted by AFP on YouTube, shows him shaking his hosts' hands and then getting into a waiting car (archived link). Zelensky does not kneel down before he gets into the vehicle. Image Screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and the footage from May 2023 (right) that a watermark for Hailuo AI in the falsely shared video's bottom-right corner and other visual errors are signs it was generated by AI (archived link). Shu Hu, head of the Purdue Machine Learning and Media Forensics Lab at Purdue University, told AFP on March 28 the video is "obviously manipulated", pointing out that an officer standing in the background does not appear to be casting a (archived link). Siwei Lyu, director of the University at Buffalo's Media Forensics Lab, also told AFP that after running an analysis their the video is "highly likely" to have been created by AI models (archived link). "Some artefacts are still noticeable -- for example, the face and hands appear to fade, and the direction of the wind affecting the clothing is inconsistent," he said on March 31. Image Indications of AI generation in the falsely shared video, highlighted by AFP He added the video was generated by Hailuo AI "using a real image sourced online for image-to-video generation". Keyword searches on Google led to several similar images of Zelensky arriving in Jeddah in May 2023, including a photo released by the Ukrainian president's press office and distributed by US news agency UPI (archived link). The war in Ukraine has generated a wave of misinformation, some of which AFP has debunked here.
