‘People could get hurt’: Conservationists decry AI wildlife visuals

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): The black-and-white image appears to show the unlikeliest of interactions: an orangutan cradling endangered leopard cubs deep in the jungles of Malaysia’s Sabah state. But the viral image is not just unlikely; it is fake, part of a trend of wildlife images generated by artificial intelligence that experts warn endanger animals and people. AFP fact-checkers have debunked scores of similar synthetic visuals, from an elephant climbing a tree to escape flooding in Myanmar to a pink dolphin leaping out of water in the Philippines. The images are often accompanied by heartwarming anecdotes and have circulated widely in…