Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are raising concerns about the emerging technology, including users’ ability to trust content shared on social media. A recent video circulating in South Africa and Nigeria claims to show Polynesian giants who lived in the 1900s before dying out. But the claim is false: the footage was created using AI.
“It is believed that in the early 20th century, giants existed in the island of Maupiti, they lived in peace and harmony with the normal people. Where did they go (sic),” reads a post published on X on April 9, 2024.
The post includes a video showing large individuals towering over average-sized humans as a voiceover narrates.
“In the early twentieth century, on the island of Maupiti in French Polynesia, myths spoke of a race of gentle giants…safeguarding the island and its inhabitants from outside threats,” the voiceover says.
The post, first shared by a South Africa-based account, was liked more than 63,000 times.
Several users expressed scepticism, questioning if the video was created with AI.
“Since the introduction of AI, I hardly believe anything I see on the internet. This might be a fake video,” read one comment.
However, some users appeared to believe the footage.
“It’s true…giants exist those days (sic),” one user wrote.
“They died, no one is immortal,” said another.
But the video is not real and was created using AI.
AI-generated
Using a reverse image search, AFP Fact Check found the same footage posted by a TikTok account called “the_ai_experiment,” which its creator labelled as AI-generated.
The TikTok clip, viewed more than 11 million times, includes the same video and voiceover used in the false X post.
The account regularly shares AI-generated content featuring mythical creatures, including giants, dragons, and aliens, which have been viewed millions of times.
AFP Fact Check contacted the creator but has not yet received a response.
International concern
At the world’s inaugural AI Safety Summit in February 2023, world leaders called for a “united” response to the potential threats posed by AI technology (archived here).
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told leaders that AI had “possible long-term negative consequences” on everything from jobs to culture, while its concentration in a few countries and companies “could increase geopolitical tensions”.
Leaders from 28 countries, including the United Kingdom, the US, and China, signed a safety pledge, agreeing to work together to understand and manage the risks posed by the rapidly advancing technology.
AI-generated content is already sowing confusion online about elections, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and natural disasters.
AFP Fact Check has created a guide with tips on identifying images, videos, and audio made using AI, which you can read here.