Does This Video Show Buddha Statue Being Installed in Hyderabad? No, It’s AI!

Several discrepancies and detection tools showed that the video was AI-generated.

Fact-Check | The video has been generated using the help of AI and does not real visuals.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video of a huge Buddha statue being transported and then installed is going viral on the internet with a claim that it shows real visuals of the establishment of the Buddha statue in 1992 in Hyderabad, Telangana.

Who shared it?: A Facebook user shared the clip with a caption saying, "_Just roll-back to 1992 and recollect the olden days when *Buddha Statue* was being installed at *Hussain Sagar* in *Tank Bund, Hyderabad*._Many of us would have witnessed this and once again get *thrilled* watching this..."

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar such claims could be viewed here, here, and here.)

What's the truth?: The video has been generated using the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools and does not show real visuals. This makes the claim false.

Discrepancies in the clip: On closely going through the video, we noticed several glaring anomalies that are commonly spotted in AI-generated clips.

• At the beginning of the video, we noticed that some figures disappeared unnaturally making it seem like a glitch.

• The texture of the water appeared to be too smooth and glossy, another indication of an AI-generated visual.

• We noticed that a person's hand was forming as the video panned to the right side. This clearly showed that the video was generated using AI.

• (Swipe right to view all images.)

There were several discrepancies in the video.

There were several discrepancies in the video.

There were several discrepancies in the video.

Finding the source: Taking this forward, we conducted a reverse image search on the keyframes of the viral video and found the same visuals uploaded on an Instagram handle 'bharathfx1'.

• The video was shared on 7 September.

• Its caption carried a note that said, "The images/videos shown in this reel are purely AI generated, our intentions are not to hurt or harm anyone. This is just for entertainment purpose."

• On going through the handle, we found that the user regularly posts such AI-generated clips.

The post was shared on 7 September.

(Source: Instagram/Screenshot)

What did detection tools show?: Team WebQoof passed the Instagram video through two AI detection tools namely — 'Hive Moderation' and 'DeepFake-O-Meter'.

• The first tool showed around 99.9% probability of the video being an AI-generated one.

• Two detectors of the second tool conclusively showed that the video was AI.

Conclusion: Evidently, the video is AI-generated and does not show real visuals of Buddha statue installation in Hyderabad.

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