There’s no denying that generative artificial intelligence (AI) is commonplace in today’s day and age, despite the criticism over its usage. Recently, a Thai travel account on Instagram used AI in one of its posts, sparking confusion and anger amongst Super Junior (슈퍼주니어) fans.
On 19th November 2025 (Wednesday), the Instagram account @/bangkok.explore shared about the K-pop group’s upcoming concert in Thailand. Super Junior will be performing at the Impact Arena in Bangkok on 29th and 30th November as part of their ongoing 20th anniversary world tour, “SUPER SHOW 10”. However, fans noticed something odd with the post, particularly the members’ faces.
It’s believed that the account had used AI to generate a photo of Super Junior, rather than using an official image of the group. As a result, the “members” appear to be random men, and not the South Korean idols. Understandably, the post sparked a heated debate amongst ELFs (Super Junior) fans, who began criticising the account.
Many said the account could easily find a proper image of the group online, instead of relying on AI to generate a fake photo, even quipping that it would be faster and easier. Others also slammed the usage of AI, calling it disrespectful to Super Junior and their fans, noting that it could infringe on the copyright of the K-pop group.
Interestingly, a Twitter post revealed that this is the second time the account used an AI image of Super Junior. A quick look at @/bangkok.explore’s feed also shows that the account often uses generative AI for its posts. For those wondering, the account was created by popular travel Instagram, @/hotel, and boasts over 600,000 followers.
Perhaps there’s a reason why the account chose to use an AI image of Super Junior instead of the real deal. However, the decision obviously didn’t fare well with fans. What are your thoughts on this?
