No, giant octopus didn't wash up in Indonesia due to rising heat in Earth's core. Ignore AI-generated images
IN SHORT: According to social media users, a giant octopus has washed ashore on the Indonesian island of Bali. But the images used to support the claim were created using artificial intelligence tools.
Three images of a giant octopus washed ashore have been circulating on social media. Users say rising heat in the "Earth's core" is to blame.
One post dated 5 June 2024 reads: "The rising heat at the core of the Earth is causing the rise of the monsters of the deep."
The Earth's core is the centre of the planet. It consists of three layers - the dense and hot inner core, the molten outer core and the mantle. Increasing temperatures over time affect the distribution and transfer of heat from the core to the surrounding layers, such as the mantle.
One of the images was posted on the social media platform Threads with the claim that the octopus was found on the Indonesian island of Bali. Similar posts can be found here and here. (Note: See more instances of posts at the end of this report.)
But did a giant octopus wash ashore in Bali because of rising heat in the Earth's core? We checked.
Images created using AI tech
Africa Check did a reverse image search and found a video featuring more images of the octopus posted on Instagram. The video is overlaid with the handle @BEST_OF_AI_.
We found an Instagram account with this handle. It describes itself as "digital creator - Experimenting with different AI engines, themes and styles". The account also posted a slideshow of the octopus images, along with a short story that ends with "This is a fictional story".
Artificial intelligence, or AI, uses complex computer algorithms to perform some tasks otherwise done by humans, like answering questions and writing code. One task it's really good at is creating images from scratch based on simple instructions.
The octopus did not wash up in Bali or anywhere else in the world. The images are AI-generated.
Similar posts can be found here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
