Videos shared on social media show that the mass funerals held after the recent earthquake in Afghanistan are unrealistic and likely were generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
The clip appears to show hundreds of bodies wrapped in white shrouds carried along the street, in overlay text that Google translates as “Kanar” in Pashto.
On August 31, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake was recorded in Kunar, a province in northeastern Afghanistan. More than 2,000 people have been killed and thousands of homes and other buildings have been reportedly destroyed.
However, there are some clues that the video claiming to show a massive funeral for earthquake victims is not real.
For example, about five seconds after the clip, the diagram to the left of the crowd appears to have transformed into another person before it melts into the background. Additionally, some of the crowd appear to be flowing in different directions, while some appear to be blurry.
The clip was previously circulated on social media, claiming it was showing a massive funeral in a Pakistani banner following the flooding last month.
As AI technology becomes more and more refined, it is becoming more difficult to distinguish between real and fake content online. Our blog has tips on what to watch out for if you think something might have been created with AI.
