{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-19T08:19:17.182Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"synthetic-presenter","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2025-perak-malaysia-elderly-couple-travelled-for-cable-car-shown-in-ai-generated-news-video-hotel-worker-says","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'A hotel worker who broke the news to the couple detailed the incident in a post on Threads on June 30, saying that their experience had shocked her.'; '“(The couple) came to check into the hotel, and they asked if I’ve ridden the cable car at Kuak Hulu. I thought they were just kidding,” said the worker.'; 'But she soon realised the couple were serious when the elderly woman told her that they had travelled all the way from Kuala Lumpur for it.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"A hotel worker in Perak said in a Threads post on 30 June 2025 that an elderly couple checking into her hotel asked whether she had ridden the cable car at Kuak Hulu, and that the woman told her they had travelled all the way from Kuala Lumpur for it.","causal_attribution":"The hotel worker's own account as The Straits Times relays it; the couple did not speak to the press."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The fake cable car is depicted in a nearly three-minute-long AI-generated video in which a journalist from “TV Rakyat” appears to introduce the attraction and interview visitors, including tourists from Thailand.'; 'The video also features scenes of people queueing up at the “Kuak SkyRide” ticket counter.'; 'As she flips, her legs and body merge to become a misshapen blob, before she lands on her feet and returns to normal.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The couple had seen a nearly three-minute video, described as AI-generated, in which a journalist from a 'TV Rakyat' channel appears to introduce a 'Kuak SkyRide' cable car attraction and interview visitors; The Straits Times describes an old woman in the video whose legs and body merge into a misshapen blob as she flips.","causal_attribution":"The Straits Times' description of the video."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'“The auntie then asked, ‘Why would anyone want to lie? There was even a reporter (in the video)’,” she added.'; 'added she wanted to sue the “TV Rakyat” journalist.'; 'When asked why they did not check with their children before visiting the non-existent attraction, the couple said they were too embarrassed.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"According to the hotel worker, the elderly woman asked why anyone would lie when there was even a reporter in the video, said she wanted to sue the 'TV Rakyat' journalist, and the couple said they had been too embarrassed to check with their children first.","causal_attribution":"The hotel worker's account of the couple's words."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'mengakui bahawa kandungan video tersebut dihasilkan menerusi janaan kecerdasan buatan (AI) dan meminta orang ramai supaya tidak keliru.'; '“Sudah tentu ia tidak wujud... tetapi saya akui teruja melihatnya.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The Baling district officer acknowledged that the video's content was generated by artificial intelligence and said the cable car does not exist.","causal_attribution":"The district officer's statement to Sinar Harian (the AI wording is Sinar Harian's paraphrase of his acknowledgement; his quoted words call it 'kandungan AI', AI content)."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'“Sehingga kini, kami belum menerima sebarang laporan membabitkan kerugian, penipuan atau kebimbangan berhubung kandungan AI yang tular itu.'; '“Hasil semakan di daerah Baling mahupun di Pengkalan Hulu, memang tiada projek kereta kabel sedemikian,” katanya.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'He added that preliminary checks have confirmed the video was entirely fabricated.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The acting Baling district police chief said checks in Baling and Pengkalan Hulu found no such cable car project and that the police had received no report of losses, fraud or public concern about the viral AI content; he told the New Straits Times that preliminary checks confirmed the video was entirely fabricated.","causal_attribution":"Two interviews with the same police officer (Sinar Harian's own, and the New Straits Times' as relayed by The Straits Times): one origin. The police describe no technical examination of the video."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'a video fabricated with Veo3, the generative artificial engine made by Google.'; 'There was a Veo3 logo in the bottom right corner.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"A Fast Company column says the video was fabricated with Google's Veo3 generative engine and carried a Veo3 logo in its bottom right corner.","causal_attribution":"The columnist's description of the video; the column does not say who first identified the logo."}],"effects":[{"label":"elderly couple travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Perak for a cable car ride shown in an AI-generated news video that does not exist","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"woman shocked to learn the reporter was not real and wanted to sue; couple too embarrassed to have asked their children","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/elderly-duo-travels-across-malaysia-for-cable-car-ride-seen-in-clip-only-to-find-out-it-was-all-ai","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"The Straits Times, 3 July 2025, relaying the hotel worker's Threads post of 30 June and the acting district police chief's comments to the New Straits Times; read in full (HTTP 200).","independence_group":"straits-times-3-jul-2025"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.sinarharian.com.my/article/736831/berita/semasa/jangan-terpedaya-video-ai-kereta-kabel-perak-ke-kedah","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"ms","translation_note":"Read in the original Malay; the English renderings in this record are translations by the research agent (an AI), not by a human translator. Sinar Harian, 3 July 2025, with its own interviews of the Baling district officer and the acting Baling district police chief; read in full (HTTP 200).","independence_group":"sinar-harian-3-jul-2025"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.fastcompany.com/91368492/ai-video-tricking-tourists-places-that-dont-exist","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Fast Company opinion column, 17 July 2025, describing the video; live HTTP 403, Internet Archive capture of 24 May 2026 read in full.","independence_group":"fast-company-17-jul-2025"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","travel"],"unknowns":["Who made and posted the 'TV Rakyat' video, and on which platform the couple saw it (outlets mention TikTok and Facebook).","What the trip cost the couple; the police said they had received no report of losses.","The exact date of the couple's trip; the hotel worker posted on 30 June 2025."],"geography":{"basis":"The couple travelled from Kuala Lumpur to a hotel in Perak, Malaysia, to find a cable car said to run from Kuak Hulu in Perak to Baling in Kedah (The Straits Times, Sinar Harian).","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["MY"],"affected_person_countries":["MY"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with): an elderly couple relied on a video in which an apparently AI-generated television journalist presented a non-existent cable car attraction, and travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Perak to ride it, according to the hotel worker who met them. The video is described as AI-generated by the district officer and the police, and a Fast Company column reports a Veo3 logo on it. The account rests on one hotel worker's post.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The couple relied on a video presented by an apparent television journalist who, the Straits Times and the hotel worker say, was AI-generated and did not exist. The Straits Times describes a visual artefact at the end of the video, an old woman whose legs and body merge into a misshapen blob as she flips. A Fast Company column says the video carried a Veo3 logo in its bottom right corner and was fabricated with Google's Veo3. The Baling district officer acknowledged to Sinar Harian that the content was AI-generated, and the acting district police chief called it viral AI content and said checks confirmed no such cable car exists. No technical examination of the video by the authorities is described, and who made and posted it is unknown.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Malaysia: hotel worker says elderly couple travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Perak for a cable car shown in an AI-generated news video","summary":"A hotel worker in Perak, Malaysia, said in a Threads post on 30 June 2025 that an elderly couple checking in asked whether she had ridden the cable car at Kuak Hulu, telling her they had travelled from Kuala Lumpur for it. They had seen a nearly three-minute video in which a journalist from a 'TV Rakyat' channel appears to introduce a 'Kuak SkyRide' cable car and interview visitors. The worker says she explained the video was AI-generated; the woman asked why anyone would lie when there was even a reporter in it and said she wanted to sue the journalist, and the couple said they had been too embarrassed to check with their children. The Baling district officer acknowledged that the content was AI-generated, and the acting district police chief said checks found no such cable car and that no report of losses had been received. A Fast Company column says the video carried a Veo3 logo. Who made the video is unknown.","incidentDate":"2025-06-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2025-07-03","aiSystem":"An AI-generated news-style video with a synthetic television journalist from a 'TV Rakyat' channel presenting a non-existent cable car; a Fast Company column says it carried a Google Veo3 logo","aiProduct":"Veo 3 (reported)","aiCompany":"Google","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the hotel worker who met them, an elderly couple travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Perak to ride a cable car shown in an AI-generated news video; the woman was shocked to learn the reporter was not real and wanted to sue, and the couple were embarrassed. The cost of the trip is not reported.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two: the elderly couple the hotel worker describes. Other viewers of the video, and a netizen's parents mentioned in other coverage, are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"elderly","jurisdiction":"MY","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/elderly-duo-travels-across-malaysia-for-cable-car-ride-seen-in-clip-only-to-find-out-it-was-all-ai","primarySourceLabel":"The Straits Times, 3 July 2025: elderly duo travel across Malaysia for cable car ride seen in clip, only to find out it was all AI","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-19T03:16:53.034075+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-19T03:16:53.034075+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-generated-video","synthetic-presenter","fake-news-segment","travel","elderly","malaysia"]}]}