Punjab flood waters wash away houses, cows? Virus video is generated by AI

Hyderabad: Punjab is on high alert as it, coupled with constant rainfall and rising water levels in major rivers and controlled releases from Sagardam in Bakla, Pon and Ranjit, is causing the worst flooding in decades.

The flood affected 1,650 villages across all 23 districts, sinking more than 175,000 acres of farmland, causing major damage to paddy fields and other crops.

Meanwhile, a virus video circulating on social media shows people desperately trying to bring to life, as muddy floods erupt hard through their homes, cleaning cots, buffaloes and boundary walls. The footage is widely shared with claims that it shows flooding in Punjab.

X user shared the video with the caption, “The situation in Punjab is heartbreaking, and the country's prime minister is busy with leisure travel.” (archive)

The newsmeter has discovered that the claims are false because the video is generated by AI.

It has noticed that users are commenting on the post, suggesting that the video is being generated by AI.

Also, there was a discrepancy in the video, where men clean the walls unharmed and Buffalo mysteriously disappears from the scene.

The video was fragmented into keyframes and frames were analyzed via AI detection tools. This confirmed that the image was artificially generated.

We also analyzed the videos using Deepfake-O-Meter. One detector flagged 100% AI, another detected 99.7% artificial content, with a third showing that it is likely to be generated by AI with a reliability of 57.1%.

Therefore, we conclude that the video does not portray the actual incident of the flood that wipes out the home. It's generated by AI and the claim is wrong.