My Feed Is Full of AI Animal ‘Attack’ Videos and People Are Believing Them

One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from Benjamin Franklin (he had a million of 'em). He once said, "Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see." Oh my goodness, my mind races at the thought of what old Ben would do with social media.

Actually, he'd probably have the best page on Facebook, but his consternation over what he would see might be overwhelming, even for a sturdy old bird like him. Suppose Mr. Franklin boarded a time machine (one he probably invented) and popped out in 2025. After spending a lot of time studying this marvel of communication (say what you want about Facebook; it is a marvel), he would then tackle what AI has done for (or to) social media.

AI Fakery - Bears, Gators, and Babies

To paraphrase the disco classic, first he'd be afraid, he'd be petrified. Is a bear really approaching an unattended child on a porch?

Did an alligator really return a baby to its mother?

Did that cat really just scare that gigantic carnivore away? (Actually, that last one is real and a personal favorite.)

That happened a long time ago, back when AI was just a component of science fiction movies.

I have to hand it to the creators of these videos. Initially, they had me going, and then, in one of them, it looked like a mother threw the baby when the large animal arrived, only to have it disappear before our eyes.

In another clip, one of the baby's feet just vanishes. In yet another one, it appears as if the child's foot grows to an abnormal length and then snaps right back into reality.

Bald Eagles in Branson

On X (formerly Twitter), a community note is posted indicating it's a fake and generated by AI. That was the case with a viral clip of an enormous number of bald eagles overtaking a Branson, Missouri, roadway. It's like something out of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.

Facebook doesn't give such notifications.

Bottom line...there's no need to be alarmed and to think there are parents out there just leaving there infants alone to be assaulted by a bear, a gator, or a wolf.

It ain't happenin'.