Giddierone
Senior Member.
Just pointing out that almost every week now there is a new lazy AI generated YouTube video about the Ariel School case. Nearly all of them repeat the core claims, many of which have been debunked.
AI Generated Video of The Ariel School, Zimbabwe UFO sighting
- Thread starter Giddierone
- Start date
Charlie Wiser
Senior Member.
A week ago on Twitter I pointed out the inaccurate AI rendition of the case on the Project Nanu App, one of the many similar apps that sprung up in the last few years to document UFO sightings. I got a reply from its founder "Nicholas" who seemed interested in fixing the errors (the description of the case itself is of course riddled with errors too, and written very weirdly, maybe by AI). Nothing has been fixed yet.
It includes this image (photobashed or AI) - nothing depicted here is accurate, the most egregious part being that it shows the (teeny!) UFO in the middle of the playground, as if this was a mass-witnessed close-encounter.
Giddierone
Senior Member.
Here's another with a teeny-tiny UFO. The video timestamp is a neat addition (if only!).
In addition to AI slop there's a the often repeated claims that John Mack's death was mysterious and somehow linked with either Ariel School or his work on UFO abductions. He was killed in Sept 2004 by a drunk driver, Raymond Czechowski.
An often repeated claim, which I think was boosted by an episode of The Why Files, is that several other "John Mack"s were killed that day. There's no evidence of this.
The one minor coincidence is that John Mack died as the result of a car accident almost to the day that his father died, also in a car accident.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/barnet-and-potters-bar-times/196854628/
In addition to AI slop there's a the often repeated claims that John Mack's death was mysterious and somehow linked with either Ariel School or his work on UFO abductions. He was killed in Sept 2004 by a drunk driver, Raymond Czechowski.
An often repeated claim, which I think was boosted by an episode of The Why Files, is that several other "John Mack"s were killed that day. There's no evidence of this.
The one minor coincidence is that John Mack died as the result of a car accident almost to the day that his father died, also in a car accident.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/barnet-and-potters-bar-times/196854628/
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purpleivan
Senior Member.
I like how a bunch of kids in the foreground are holding large pieces of paper, with sketches of a saucer and alien on them, as if they're oversized pamphlets, handed out by the visitors.
It so outrageously AI'd, that it wouldn't (well... shouldn't) fool anyone.
The kids seem to have no idea where to look as well. The ones on the left of the image are mostly looking across the scene, to the right side rather than the aliens and saucer, and some are staring (one even pointing) into the sky.
Not to mention the absurdly fake scenery in the distance, so of which has been attacked with a tin of fiery orange paint.
The whole thing seems to be an example of what a bad, AI generated image looks like.
It so outrageously AI'd, that it wouldn't (well... shouldn't) fool anyone.
The kids seem to have no idea where to look as well. The ones on the left of the image are mostly looking across the scene, to the right side rather than the aliens and saucer, and some are staring (one even pointing) into the sky.
Not to mention the absurdly fake scenery in the distance, so of which has been attacked with a tin of fiery orange paint.
The whole thing seems to be an example of what a bad, AI generated image looks like.
Ravi
Senior Member.
Also, the kids of the school were mostly white.
NorCal Dave
Senior Member.
What! Are you saying AI, which everyone increasingly relies on for information, doesn't quite grasp the complex ethnic, racial and social structures of post-colonial Africa? I would suggest whoever prompted the AI for the "photo" certainly didn't, but I'm assuming that increasingly it's an AI prompting an AI. Someone prompts an AI to find and summarize UFO stories and to produce "photos" for each summer in an effort to produce as much content as possible with little work.
Ravi
Senior Member.
AI content has become unbearable on YT. YT offers "content creators" behind the scenes AI tools to "optimize" their channels. Tools for creating ideas and formats, help with thumbnails for click baiting, andsoforth. Of course, all the scripting is done with AI as well, and often narrated with AI.
JMartJr
Senior Member.
An AI "tell" that I am seeing a lot. For example, FB algorithm is showing me a lot of videos recently with three ladies cooking and smiling, just as sweet as can be, then this rude guy jumps in and tells them their cooking is terrible and they should stop posting. I guess this is supposed to make people engage by posting in defense of the sweet old ladies -- many certainly do so.
But in addition to other things that give away it is AI, the guy steps in front of them and then yells at nobody, facing resolutely to screen left, not looking at them and even jabbing with his finger pointing at nothing. It is weird, and very consistent. So, in addition to zooming in on faces in the crowd and looking for those that are rendered poorly, I now also look for egregious eye-line issues.
John J.
Senior Member.
The cyan-coloured circle beneath the UFO appears to be on or very close to the ground, encircling the shadow.
The leftmost alien's feet are planted a short distance outside the cyan circle, but somehow the circle also transects or travels behind the lower legs.
Giddierone
Senior Member.
Tsk, tsk John J. Aliens can do anything, don't you know?
Todd Feinman
Senior Member
Right. And it's cuz they are interhyperdimensional and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Charlie Wiser
Senior Member.
This is the reason I thought maybe this was photobashed and not (or not entirely) AI. I haven't examined it close enough to look for other tell-tale signs of AI but I don't think AI would make that mistake. The part intersecting the lil guy's legs seems bitmapped too.
Giddierone
Senior Member.
Here's a prime example. In fact this one goes to extreme lengths to describe things that never happened ("teachers rushed outside to find 62 children staring at nothing," "psychiatrists tested them for weeks" etc) and uses comic book zombie imagery. It's total bunk, and I think is part of a wider trend of "content creators" muddying the waters because it's easy to do and gets online attention.
Source: https://youtu.be/Ky3_H9kxp1Q?si=HTpoHcZECEh8CHKC
Charlie Wiser
Senior Member.
John J.
Senior Member.
Please don't give up!
I think it's strange that a minority of people who believe unusual claims are perfectly happy to significantly exaggerate them, or make statements that even a few minutes research would show to be false ("62 kids drew identical aliens", "...every child in the playground", "Teachers rushed outside..."
Strange, and saddening, but unfortunately no longer surprising.
Your (@Charlie Wiser's) work on the topic, along with others (@Giddierone, others here) provide accessible evidence that these inflated claims just aren't true. This might be of use to a few who see videos like this and decide to check things out for themselves.
Depressingly I guess there will be many who are happy to believe what they're told if it conforms to their pre-existing beliefs or predilections.
And some of them, rather annoyingly, might accuse more sceptical people of not being open-minded enough.
Ann K
Senior Member.
The sheer hype, the overblown claim of the video is enough to make some people insist on watching it ...and enough to make me mistrust it right from the start. That would be true, I think, even if I had no previous information about the event. Is there a basic difference between the minds of the credulous and the minds of the skeptical?
Smythe Bacchus
Senior Member.
This appears to be just another clickbait video from a generic farming account. There may not even be a human mind behind the content production at all...
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPTPro/comments/169i2na/i_made_a_fully_automated_youtube_channel_with/
Social media is already descending into a cesspit of clickbait mis/dis information, and bots. The ever expanding abuse will surely accelerate this decline. It is the predicted endpoint of dead internet theory. What may have originated as a satire is fast becoming a reality.
Giddierone
Senior Member.
JMartJr
Senior Member.
Possibly -- but is it also possible that the algorithm has noted your engagement, and so is shoveling them at you at a higher rate?
Fritzkquzerk
Active Member
Dead internet
Giddierone
Senior Member.
No, I searched for Ariel School. Most of these new videos are probably created using AI tools like Google NotebooLM. All the "creator" has to do is feed it the websites of some researchers and click "make me a script" or "make me an AI voiced podcast" and it'll do the rest.
Also, anything Ariel School - "kids saw aliens" - generates clicks.
Giddierone
Senior Member.
Maybe this content creation phenomenon deserves it's own thread?
Fritzkquzerk
Active Member
Searching for UFO related events triggers the "UFO BS / AI slop" invasion, been there!
Giddierone
Senior Member.
This is useful. I wonder if there other examples of paranormal stories that are finding new online audiences and which are heavily distorted from their original in their AI generated retelling.
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