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Claim: A Facebook user shared a video showcasing a new technological invention in London, featuring flying cars and advanced robots.
Verdict: The video is AI-generated and does not depict any real development in London or connect to actual advancements.
Full Text
The Western world has long been a source of inspiration for developing countries, particularly in technology. Many of the gadgets and innovations we use today come from these regions and create excitement for what’s next. Remember when smartphones first arrived in Nigeria? Everyone either wanted one or worked hard to save up for it.
The same trend applies to other technological advancements. People eagerly await the latest iPhone, the most advanced laptops, futuristic cars, stunning buildings, and artificial intelligence models. However, with all this excitement, some take advantage by selling fake products or spreading false claims about innovations that don’t exist, misleading others into thinking they are real.
On Oct. 15, 2024, a Facebook user shared a video showcasing a futuristic cityscape, with spotless roads, sleek vehicles seemingly flying through the air, and robots performing various tasks. The video exuded an air of innovation and technological sophistication. The Facebook user, in explaining the video in Hausa, said:
“Wannan wani sabon kirkira ne da London tayi, yayan da motoci sazu dinga tashi a sama tare da wasu kamar jirage. Motocin dai kala kala aka yi su, kira kira wanda zasu na tashi sama.”
In English, this translates to: “This is a new invention by London, where cars will be able to fly in the air alongside others like aeroplanes. The cars are made in different colours and designs, and they will be flying in the air.”
By Dec. 6, 2024, the post had received 11,300 likes, 62 comments, 266 shares, and 1.3 million views.
In the comments,@DanCrypto disagreed with the post, saying: “Karyar banza, wannan fa Ana hasashen yadda technology zai kasance ne anan gaba, bawai anyi abun bane,” meaning “That’s utter nonsense, this is just a speculation about how technology will be in the future, not something that has actually been done.”
@AbubakarAliyu responded in agreement with the post: “Shi sararin samaniya ba kamar titunan da suke kan kasa bane babu yanda za’ayi a bari motoci suna tashi yanda suka ga dama ba tsari don sun yi ta karo kenan suna tarwatsewa tunda a tituna a sama.”
This means: “The sky is not like the roads on the ground; there’s no way vehicles can just fly around freely without order. They would collide and scatter since it’s a sky road.”
Meanwhile, @FadabeeChinaka expressed excitement: “Wow, that is awesome.”
Other users celebrated the development, dismissed the claim, or veered off-topic, asking others to connect with them on social media.
The post seemed too unreal, with no similarity to the typical London we know. We also observed that the claim, despite being shared in October, continued to garner engagement through December. The continued virality led DUBAWA to investigate the authenticity of the claim.
Verification
Using a screenshot from the video on Google Lens revealed multiple identical videos across platforms like YouTube and Instagram. None of these videos supported the Facebook user’s claim; instead, they described the video as a speculative representation of futuristic cities. See video samples here and here.
From this, DUBAWA deduced that @Mawakine (the claimant) likely sourced the video elsewhere and attached their narrative.
To verify if the video depicted a real event, DUBAWA attempted to analyse it using Deepware.ai. Despite this, due to oversharing and compression, the video’s poor quality rendered it too corrupt for accurate assessment.
DUBAWA then used an AI tool, Hive AI detector, which confirmed that the video was 100% AI-generated.
Results from Hive AI Detector
AI-generated content is not generally created to mislead. Often, such videos are samples from gaming platforms, architectural visualisations, or creative efforts to demonstrate technological possibilities. However, these videos, when shared without context or with misleading captions, can be repurposed by others to spread false narratives, making it seem like they depict real-world advancements or events.
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s investigation reveals that the video shared by the Facebook user, claiming to showcase a recent development in London, is false. Findings confirm that the video is entirely AI-generated.
