AI generated images circulate of missing boy in South Australia raising concerns of misinformation

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Fake images purporting to depict a missing South Australian four-year-old are being circulated on social media. They've been generated using AI, which is also being blamed for social media searches which incorrectly claimed the boy had been found.

Transcript

00:00It was on this vast outback homestead where four-year-old Gus was last seen playing on

00:07the 27th of September. Emergency services and volunteers searched the property near

00:12Yunter and the Mid-North for days. When police scaled back the search last week, there were

00:17few clues about what happened. And in the midst of huge public interest, false news

00:23has filled the void. Most recently, AI-generated images have been circulating on Facebook,

00:29including one depicting a boy with similar long blonde curly hair to Gus, held by a man

00:35getting into a four-wheel drive. The image, which we've chosen not to show, is captioned,

00:40is this a kidnapping case? The post also includes the only image of Gus which has been publicly

00:46released. AI searches on Facebook in recent days were also incorrectly stating that the

00:52toddler had been found. An AI ethics expert says people could be taking advantage of community

00:58stress over the missing four-year-old to create this content. A growing problem as more people

01:04consume news through social media, where she says there isn't enough content moderation.

01:09You're just creating this perfect storm for people to be receiving misinformation and to

01:15be pulled down into that rabbit hole. Something the state's victims' rights commissioner says

01:20only adds to the grief. I'm certain that it is something that will become more prolific,

01:26unfortunately. And we now have to consider the additional harm that that is causing to people.

01:33They're urging people to get their information from reputable sources.

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