An artificially generated disaster image of Walt Disney World flooded by Hurricane Milton quickly ignited the internet this Friday after Russia's RIA news agency widely spread it.
In addition, fabricated images of Florida's iconic Disney World submerged in hurricane-induced floods swiftly swept through social media, ultimately leading to widespread misinformation, Metro reported.
Moreover, the unsettling visuals showed Disney World, including the towering Cinderella's Castle, submerged in about one meter of water. These images appeared on RIA's Telegram channel shortly after midday, immediately drawing massive engagement from its 3.3 million subscribers.
These AI-created scenes quickly gained traction, amassing about 228,000 interactions within just an hour. However, despite the realistic appearance of the lit-up street lamps and flooded landscapes, comparing them with actual images from Disney's website easily revealed them as false.
Furthermore, power outages have affected over 3.2 million homes and businesses across Florida since Thursday, further casting doubt on the authenticity of the brightly lit lamps in the fake images.
Meanwhile, investigators traced the initial posting of these deceptive images to an account named BoomBoxBro_ on X, which began sharing them earlier in the morning before RIA made their post.
Noticiero El Salvador and Mario Nawfal, a well-followed influencer on Twitter, amplified the reach of these misleading visuals on X. As a result, their large audiences swiftly spread the images across various social media networks.
Meanwhile, in anticipation of Hurricane Milton, Walt Disney World proactively closed its theme parks in stages, starting at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. This precautionary measure starkly contrasted with the chaotic scenes depicted in the AI-generated images.
Consequently, these misleading visuals circulated widely, and Metro news outlets contacted Disney for a comment. However, as of now, Disney has not responded to the incident.
Social media users and news consumers scrambled as the truth behind the images emerged. The creative differences between the fake and real photos crucially debunked the false narrative.
This use of AI technology to create and spread misinformation during critical times, such as severe weather events, is not new. The realistic appearance of these images reminds us of AI's powerful impact on public perception.
The incident highlights the growing challenges social media platforms and news agencies face in stopping the spread of false information. It emphasizes the need for increased vigilance and advanced detection techniques to quickly identify and mitigate the effects of deceptive visuals.
