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Viral image of hockey team sitting on footpath in Australia is AI-generated
Several Pakistani and international media outlets published a fake, AI-generated image claiming to show the Pakistan national hockey team sitting on a footpath in Australia.
The image, which went viral on social media before being picked up by several media outlets, was used to illustrate the team’s accommodation struggles during their recent tour.
The Australia Today, an online news portal, published a news report on Feb 15 titled, “Pakistan hockey team humiliated and stranded on Canberra streets as accommodation failure sparks outrage.”
The article placed the image on its website that can be viewed here.
Indian media outlet, NDTV, also used the pic for their news report on Feb 18 titled, “”Had To Wash Dishes”: Pakistan Hockey Captain Tears Into Hockey Federation Over Australia Debacle.”
Pakistan’s leading outlet, Dawn, also used the image in its print edition on Feb 18 titled, “PHF, PSB trade blame after Pro League mismanagement”. The image has now been removed from its website.
The picture was used on other news outlets and social media platforms as seen here, here, here, here, and here,
Fact Check
Fact Check Pakistan determined the image is AI-generated. This was confirmed after the image was analyzed by AI content detector, Hiver Moderation, that said the image is “likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content.”
Further fact-checking with Google Gemini’s AI-detector said that “most or all of this image was likely edited or generated with AI.”
This specific image of the players sitting on a footpath went viral on social media and was even mistakenly published by some news organizations before being identified as AI-generated.
image
While the image itself is AI-generated, it refers to a real incident as the national hockey team faced significant logistical challenges during their tour in Australia.
Reports from major news outlets confirm that the team was stranded for several hours in Canberra because their hotel bookings were cancelled due to unpaid bills by the Pakistan Hockey Federation.
