Media outlets around the world reported a man died after surgery to look like a K-pop star despite numerous red flags.

The news that Saint Von Colucci, a 22-year-old Canadian-Portuguese actor, singer, and songwriter with pull in South Korea’s entertainment scene, died after undergoing surgeries to look like a K-pop star set media abuzz.

Von Colucci was reported to have undergone 12 plastic surgeries, costing more than $200,000, to resemble BTS member Jimin and overcome discrimination “against his Western traits”. He was said to have recently secured a role in an upcoming Korean drama.

The only problem is that Von Colucci may have never existed.

A raft of evidence suggests he is the product of an elaborate hoax using artificial intelligence that fooled dozens of media outlets, stretching from the United States and Canada to the United Kingdom, South Korea, India, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The debacle appears to be the first known case of AI being used to trick media outlets en masse into spreading misinformation, heralding the dawn of a new era of computer-generated fake news.

18 points

heralding the dawn of a new era of computer-generated fake news

As if humans ever needed any help coming up with fake news

permalink
report
reply

yeah like at one point they drop this line

the case of Von Colucci appears to be the first example of journalists being duped on a large scale,

and I guess they mean this is the first time “AI” was involved, but it’s like, no, come on, this has been happening since before the internet, and the developments that have exacerbated it have less to do with advances in image generation technology than with the complete demise of journalism as a serious profession. As they point out, hardly any digging was required to poke holes in the story, but “serious” publications took it seriously because they just need something to fill a page.

permalink
report
parent
reply
10 points

Absolutely. “Journalists get duped” should be a dog bites man story at this point.

permalink
report
parent
reply
9 points
*
Deleted by creator
permalink
report
parent
reply

Hell, not even Junior. SADDAM RIPPED THE BABBYS OUTTA THE DING DANG INCUBATORS!

…also the Kuwaitis were slant-drilling into oil fields along the border that were mostly on the Iraqi side, so Saddam was justifiably pissed. The UN blew him off, the US Embassy in Iraq said they wouldn’t intervene, and then, out of nowhere (!), along comes a massive PR/disinfo campaign funded by the Kuwaiti royal family. Western media outlets lapped all that shit up.


You could probably go even deeper with the Gulf of Tonkin.

permalink
report
parent
reply

A reporter talking to himself - “If I don’t write some hot articles fast - I’m going to get fired. But how about my ethics? How about my morals? Fuck it. A man’s gotta eat…” That repeats a few dozen times all over the world.

Later…

Photos of Von Colucci online are blurry and contain strange features, including deformed hands in at least one case – a tell-tale sign of the use of AI.

permalink
report
reply

That’s the son of a bitch who killed Inigo Montoya’s father!

permalink
report
parent
reply

When Al Jazeera attempted to call HYPE via the number listed, no one answered. Al Jazeera was later sent a text message from the number saying, “Wtf do u want.”

Powers levels unsustainable

permalink
report
reply

That headline has strong :jesse-wtf: energy

permalink
report
reply
Deleted by creator
permalink
report
reply

technology

!technology@hexbear.net

Create post

On the road to fully automated luxury gay space communism.

Spreading Linux propaganda since 2020

Rules:

  • 1. Obviously abide by the sitewide code of conduct. Bigotry will be met with an immediate ban
  • 2. This community is about technology. Offtopic is permitted as long as it is kept in the comment sections
  • 3. Although this is not /c/libre, FOSS related posting is tolerated, and even welcome in the case of effort posts
  • 4. We believe technology should be liberating. As such, avoid promoting proprietary and/or bourgeois technology
  • 5. Explanatory posts to correct the potential mistakes a comrade made in a post of their own are allowed, as long as they remain respectful
  • 6. No crypto (Bitcoin, NFT, etc.) speculation, unless it is purely informative and not too cringe
  • 7. Absolutely no tech bro shit. If you have a good opinion of Silicon Valley billionaires please manifest yourself so we can ban you.

Community stats

  • 16

    Monthly active users

  • 5.1K

    Posts

  • 60K

    Comments