Fake videos of sharks in areas affected by Hurricane Melissa are circulating on social media and misleading users
Fake AI-generated videos of Hurricane Melissa, including sharks in overflowing waters, are circulating on social media, misleading users.
Many clips are not marked as AI PHOTO Video Capture X
There are many artificial intelligence videos circulating on social media that claim to be filmed during Hurricane Melissa, which is currently affecting Jamaica. These include artificially generated clips showing sharks swimming in the overflowing waters, as well as fake footage that appears to capture the eye of the storm filmed from a commercial plane, the BBC notes.
Many of these materials have labels indicating that they are made with the help of AI, but some are not clearly marked and mislead some social media users. Monitoring teams are also following live images from the Caribbean, as the hurricane's proportions cause significant destruction to communities in Jamaica and the region.
A central element of the fake videos related to Hurricane Melissa is the emergence of alleged images of sharks entering populated areas with the overflowing waters.
Source: X / World War 3
For observers of the disinformation phenomenon, these sequences evoke a strong sense of deja-vu. Similar reasons have been circulating for at least 14 years, ever since Hurricane Irene, when several publications were misled by a fake image showing a shark swimming down a flooded street in Puerto Rico.
It was a period before the advent of AI tools, and the photo had been made by combining two unrelated images, the BBC journalists also note.
Since then, “hurricane shark” it constantly reappears online with every major weather phenomenon, becoming more of a meme than a deliberate attempt at manipulation.
In a 2014 BBC article, American journalist Rose Eveleth warned that any image showing a hurricane accompanied by a shark was most likely fake.
But the images seem to capture the public's attention. Some of the most popular AI-generated images of Hurricane Melissa include sharks.
In the fake clip, two swimmers can be seen in the overflowing waters that are quickly heading towards a coastal community. In another, two sharks appear to be swimming in a pool, while a frightened voice complains that it has left its “flip flops” in the water.
To date, these videos have amassed nearly a million views.
