With the rise of AI technology, creative jobs are increasingly at risk, but another growing concern is the difficulty in distinguishing between what’s real and what’s not. For the most part, many people, particularly from the younger generation, can tell whether content is AI-generated or created by humans. However, older individuals may be more vulnerable to being misled or targeted by scammers.
Just as many have fallen victim to scam calls and messages, one elderly couple, unfortunately, had no one to blame but themselves after being fooled by an AI-generated video promoting a non-existent tourist attraction in Perak. Here’s what happened:
Yesterday (Monday, 30th June), a woman named Dya, who works at an undisclosed hotel, shared the story of an elderly couple who had checked in hoping to experience a supposedly new cable car ride in Kampung Kuak Hulu, Perak, said to travel from the area to Baling, Kedah. While checking in, the couple asked Dya if she had ridden the cable car herself.
Initially, she thought they were joking. However, the man explained that they had travelled all the way from Kuala Lumpur to experience the latest tourist attraction, which they had seen in a video on Facebook. “I had to explain to them that the video was AI-generated. They didn’t believe me at first because it featured a reporter interviewing visitors. I had to convince them that there’s no cable car. I’m a local, and if it were real, the hotel would’ve been buzzing with guests,” she wrote.
Disheartened by the revelation, the couple said they wanted to sue the reporter for spreading false information. Dya, regrettably, had to gently explain that neither the reporter nor the people featured in the video were real. “Everyone, please ask your parents, especially if they’re frequent travellers, what their plans are if they’re visiting from KL to Perak,” she warned, before sharing a link to the AI-generated video the couple had seen on Facebook.
As seen in the screenshots above, the video is exactly as the elderly couple described: a journalist reporting and interviewing visitors about a newly built cable car ride. Netizens took to the TikTok comments to say that while the content looks obviously fake to some, they acknowledged the potential risks it poses to those who are not tech-savvy. Many expressed sympathy for the elderly couple and others who may have been misled by the video, while some shared that they had to warn their own parents, who also believed the footage was real.
Some netizens suggested contacting the authorities to investigate the viral video and take action against the original creator for spreading misinformation. As for the victims, there’s currently no update on the elderly couple who travelled all the way for nothing. Here’s hoping that they’d still make the most out of their trip by exploring other popular spots in the area.
Watch the reposted version of the viral AI-generated video below:
@ybda02
