Fabricated footage of 'rare insect' fools social media users
- Published on April 4, 2025 at 10:06
- 3 min read
- By AFP Middle East & North Africa
- Translation and adaptation Pasika KHERNAMNUOY , AFP Thailand
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A reel depicting a creature with a locust-like body and a white lotus flower on its back landing on a hand spread March 10, 2025 on Facebook.
Thai-language text superimposed on the footage reads: "Lotus mantis. It looks like a real lotus. Very beautiful."
The caption adds: "What kind of mantis is that? It's so beautiful."
Another Facebook video racked up more than 10,000 shares before it was removed. The claim spread in several languages, including English, Thai, Indonesian and Korean.
Some of the clips go on to show another insect with a rose on its back, with a text overlay that claims it is a rare lotus mantis found only in China.
A reverse image search on Google found the videos were uploaded by the Instagram account "oleg.pars" (archived here and here).
The account features many AI-generated images and clips centred around the theme of surreal insects, such as a crystal spider, a snow wasp and a daisy-backed caterpillar.
The user, Oleg Parshentsev, identifies himself as a "media artist" on his website (archived link).
The hand in the first clip has six fingers -- one of the defects that specialists previously told AFP is the best way to recognise images generated using AI.
The posts mention AI programs such as Flux, Kling and ElevenLabs. They also include #ai and #digitalart.
AFP has previously debunked AI-generated images of creatures passed off as genuine, including an axolotl, giant octopus and lobster.
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