THE social media post was meant to be a bit of harmless fun. But underlying it is the cold hard reality that silly humour and unverified content rules in today’s media landscape, further accentuated by the advent of artificial intelligence (AI).
Sharing a post that first appeared on Prompters Malaya Facebook page, fish enthusiast Fitri, Ph.D in Fish Genetics (@drfitriyusof) highlighted that the ‘International Crocodile Regatta 2025’ would taking place in Sarawak.
Accompanied by fantastical images of “jockeys” riding massive crocs, the post even managed to fool some into thinking that the event was real.
The penny only dropped when it was noted that this gala event “is slated from Feb 29-31, 2025”.
International Crocodile Regatta 2025
Sarawak telah dipilih menjadi tuan rumah acara Regatta Buaya Antarabangsa 2025 yang akan berlangsung pada 29.2.2025 – 31.2.2025.
fb Prompters Malaya pic.twitter.com/CMvXtuE6Id
— Fitri, Ph.D in Fish Genetics (@drfitriyusof) January 21, 2025
Many were tickled pink by the images but the reality is that such posts underline the deteriorating quality of web content.
Set amid reports that advertising in digital media was down by 33%, the question is do such images – most likely conjured by AI – is dumbing down content consumed by netizens.
The post which has already generated 1.4M views at the time of writing somehow exposed Malaysian netizens’ fondness for the silly and nonsensical.
One marvelled at the quality of the AI doctoring that made the images seem so real and believable while a few admitting to being hoodwinked.
Another was astonished at the attention to detail by the original poster who must have fed AI incredible amounts of data for it to generate such life-like images.
However, not all were impressed. One commenter pointed out that AI was harmful towards the environment as its usage consume lots of energy.
This is on top of the danger it poses to “media literacy and safety”. He urged Malaysians to start asking serious questions about AI and the problems it poses for both the environment as well as our grey matter.
Another echoed this sentiment by warning that unregulated usage of AI will lead to more fake posts, disinformation and falsehoods.
A few pleaded that such AI-generated images are not made viral with one netizen admonishing this poster as he should know better being an “educated individual”.
Though this may seem like a bit of harmless fun, designed to elicit a guffaw or two, the points raised by various netizens are genuine concerns.
The web is the modern-day version of the untamed wild west – a great frontier waiting to be explored.
Unfortunately, it has had a number of negative effects ranging from the proliferation of unsuitable content for children to schoolkids ditching academic studies in favour of a career as social media influencer.
As pointed out, it is also ripe for abuse with unverified content and false information flooding netizens’ news feeds.
With traditional news media outlets struggling to survive in Malaysia, it also underlines the fact that people prefer getting latest updates elsewhere – most notably from social media.
The danger of AI is real and very much in the here and now. Meanwhile, tickets for the International Crocodile Regatta 2025 can be purchased at the usual sources. – Jan 23, 2025
