Viral Video Of Chinese Paraglider's Accidental 8,000-Metre Flight Might Be AI-Generated

A viral video of a Chinese paraglider accidentally being propelled more than 8,000 metres high by an updraft has been found to be generated by artificial intelligence, at least partially, according to a report in NBC News. 55-year-old Peng Yujiang claimed that he was paragliding at approximately 3,000 metres, but the unexpected conditions carried him nearly 5,000 metres higher.

He endured temperatures around -40 degrees Celsius and dangerously low oxygen levels. Despite experiencing hypoxia and severe frostbite, Mr Peng managed to remain conscious and safely navigated back to the ground.

However, the investigation reveals that the first five seconds of the video might be AI-generated. In the clip, Mr Peng can be seen gliding at high altitude with his legs dangling, but the footage is seemingly cropped.

The crop omitted a logo belonging to Doubao AI, suggesting it was likely created by the ByteDance-owned company's AI tool. The same portion of the video was uploaded separately to Facebook on May 25 with the company's watermark.

"It's unclear if the remaining footage of Peng gliding through the sky which differs from the first five seconds is authentic or not," the publication stated.

GetReal Labs, an AI-verification company, corroborated the claims, stating that the analysis of the footage yielded proof of AI use.

"We were able to extract a few frames and analyze them using our Inspect platform, and our models confirm that the images are synthetic," said GetReal Labs, adding that several other elements in the video differed from the rest of the footage.

News agency Reuters, which distributed the clip without the AI logo has taken down the video. Other news outlet have also removed their versions of the video.

"We have reason to believe this is an AI-generated video and are currently working on killing this footage," Reuters said.

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Peng banned

Notably, Mr Peng was testing secondhand paragliding equipment when the alleged incident took place. The video clip instantly went viral on social media with users lauding him for keeping calm.

"I had just bought a second-hand paragliding harness and wanted to test it, so I was conducting ground parachute shaking. After a while, the wind suddenly picked up and lifted me into the air. I tried to land as soon as possible, but I failed," Mr Peng told the Chinese media.

Mr Peng and his friend, who posted the video, received six-month bans from paragliding activities due to unauthorised flight and safety violations.