Fabricated animal footage on social media is distorting conservation efforts and could be undermining public support for endangered species, a study has found.
Generative AI tools are now capable of producing convincing wildlife videos and photographs that never happened, according to a paper published in Conservation Biology by researchers at the University of Cordoba.
The authors, José Guerrero-Casado, Tamara Murillo-Jiménez, Antonio Carpio, Francisco Tortosa and Rocío Serrano-Rodríguez, argue this content is increasingly shaping how the public understands animal behaviour, often incorrectly.
One example the researchers highlight is a viral AI video showing various bird species sheltering chicks from the rain, widely shared with captions describing it as "true mother love."
The framing misses an established fact: in 90% of bird species, males also take part in raising young, while many reptiles, amphibians and fish provide no parental care at all.
