FACT CHECK: Viral video of Los Angeles on fire is AI-generated
Claim: A video shows massive fires engulfing the city of Los Angeles. Plumes of smoke can be seen rising from flaming skyscrapers and other buildings as the city is seemingly razed amid traffic chaos.
Rating: FALSE
Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook post containing the viral video was posted on January 12 and has 69,300 reactions, 5,500 comments, and 12,000 shares as of writing. The page named “Team Silog,” which has 32,000 followers, posted this video.
The video bears the text “Los Angeles, California” and shows clips of the city seemingly on fire.
The facts: The video does not show real images of Los Angeles on fire. Deepfake detection tools Sensity and Sightengine found the viral video to be AI-generated.
Sensity confirmed with 99% confidence that the video is AI-generated content. According to the tool, a confidence level of at least 50% is considered a high confidence level, which indicates clear signs of AI generation.
Meanwhile, Sightengine found the video to be 99% likely to be AI-generated when it analyzed a screenshot of the clip. The tool flagged 98% use of Stable Diffusion, which Sightengine defined as a certain type of model that is “very popular to create AI media.”
Los Angeles wildfire: The AI-generated video circulated as wildfires continue to ravage Los Angeles, destroying entire neighborhoods and forcing thousands to evacuate to safety. (IN PHOTOS: Los Angeles wildfires leave thousands homeless)
A Reuters report, citing the US National Weather Service, said that while there was a brief respite due to ocean breezes and cloud cover, this will be short-lived as hazardous conditions were expected to return by Sunday. (READ: What causes wildfires in Los Angeles?)
Evacuees have been told it remains too dangerous for them to return as first responders grapple with the ongoing crisis, which has claimed at least 27 lives.
Similar fact checks: Rappler has previously debunked false claims purporting to show the impact of various natural disasters. Some of these posts used AI to manipulate images or misrepresent previous events.
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– Rappler.com
Prak Chan Thul, Kiripost‘s Editor-in-Chief, is a seasoned journalist with over two decades of experience, including 14 years at Reuters. He is one of Rappler’s #FactsMatter Fellows for 2024.
This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.
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