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The advent of powerful generative AI tools has supercharged the proliferation of disinformation, with viral and fictional stories making the lives of public figures a living hell.
Facebook, in particular, has been overrun with misleading news stories, often featuring AI-generated images, that attract huge engagement.
Now William Shatner, the 95-year-old actor of “Star Trek” fame, has become the latest victim of the trend.
“My daughter came over to tell me her daughter heard that I had brain cancer,” he wrote in a caption of a April 2 Instagram post, which showed him sitting in a patio chair, smiling into the camera. “She took this photo and sent it to me to upload to prove I’m not ill.”
In a post on X, the Canadian actor further explained that “there is a page on Facebook that is using AI to create horrible fake news stories about me.”
Screenshots attached to his post show AI-generated pictures of him lying in a hospital bed and news tickers claiming he “has been diagnosed with stage IV glioblastoma — one of the most dangerous types of brain cancer.”
“All their stories are monetized,” Shatner wrote. “Most of the stories use an AI image of me. Facebook Support will not remove the page.”
“None of these stories are true but they apparently seem genuine enough for fans to repost them across social media and send messages of support to me and my family all while the culprits behind the account make money,” he added.
The page has since been taken down, but given that the posts proliferated widely, the damage likely has already been done.
Shatner used the opportunity to send an important message, calling on netizens to take stories we see on social media “with a grain of salt.”
“This is the downside of AI and yellow journalism,” he wrote, referring to a style of journalism based on sensationalism and exaggeration. “While [AI] can be a wonderful tool in the right hands; it can be used as a weapon in the wrong hands.”
The news comes just a day after numerous media outlets were forced to issue a correction after inadvertently basing reports of the death of Jonathan, a 193-year-old Seychelles giant tortoise believed to be the oldest living land animal, on a crypto scam.
As it turned out, the ancient reptile was alive and well, peacefully napping under a tree in a paddock.
More on fake AI news: JONATHAN THE 193-YEAR-OLD TORTOISE IS STILL ALIVE, REPEAT HE HAS NOT DIED
