A hyperrealistic, AI-generated video depicting Seoul’s historic Gyeongbokgung Palace submerged under floodwaters has fuelled fresh alarm over the power of artificial intelligence to fabricate and spread misinformation.
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The viral clip, first shared by the YouTube channel ‘Golpadak’, opens with a man in a yellow raincoat standing before the former royal palace. “Wow, the rain is incredible,” he remarks, gesturing towards what appears to be ankle-deep water. “Gyeongbokgung is completely flooded.”
Moments later, the video cuts to scenes of people desperately bailing water with plastic buckets, before panning to a seal gliding across the palace courtyard. “Wait – is that a seal? Oh my gosh, a seal!” the narrator exclaims, betraying the satirical undertone of the footage.
Despite the obvious absurdity of some details, the timing of the video’s release – amid a week of record-breaking monsoon rains in South Korea – convinced some viewers it was genuine.
“People who make fake videos just to confuse others should be held accountable,” one user commented, reflecting a wave of public unease.
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The Korea Herald reported that the video was created with Veo 3, Google’s latest AI video generation model, known for its ability to produce convincingly realistic images and dialogue. Dozens of similar AI-generated videos about South Korea’s floods have proliferated across YouTube, the outlet noted.