Lion breaks into supermarket in viral video, but is it real?

A video of a lion breaking into a supermarket in South Africa has gone viral on TikTok, but users notice signs that the video is fake.

A video of a lion entering a supermarket and ravaging the meat aisle has gone viral on social media.

The video, originally posted on TikTok, shows the wild beast entering the store while shoppers flee the scene. The animal is then seen consuming the supermarket’s raw meat.

The TikTok received more than 26 million views, over 640,000 likes, and almost 37,000 comments.

@ataquesferoz Wild Lion Storms Into Grocery Store#animals #wildanimals #Lion #Africa ♬ som original - ATAQUES FEROZ

Users commented on the post, stating that the lion must’ve been hungry and that people should just allow the animal to eat in peace.

However, not everyone was fooled by the video. A few users picked up on the fact that the lion, the supermarket, and everything else in TikTok were generated using artificial intelligence (AI).

“This AI is going to ruin our lives in many ways, watch the space,” one user said, while another person said, “AI, I’m from South Africa, not true.”

While the video is quite convincing, there are a few telltale signs that the TikTok was generated using AI.

At around 00:43, the video appears to glitch, showing a flurry of pixels falling down the shelves of the supposed store.

The cuts of meat seem to change spontaneously, as the lion appears to be chowing down on chunks of meat one minute, then bone-in leg meat the next.

Furthermore, the angles and perspective continue to change despite the CCTV-type setup. The footage isn’t static as would be expected of in-store CCTV footage.

The account that posted the TikTok appears to be dedicated to AI-generated content, further confirming that the video isn’t legitimate.

This is just one of an array of AI-generated content fooling social media users. Another video depicts an older Russian woman who has a pet hippopotamus.

@trendy_viewz A Russian Babushka Brought Home… a #Hippo ♬ original sound - Trendy_viewz

The interview seems legitimate, but users were quick to notice the video's absurdity and the fact that it must have been made using AI.

One user pointed out that the collar around the hippo's neck wasn’t on correctly, and the image generation software had failed to generate it properly.

While these videos may seem like a bit of fun, the proliferation of AI-generated content, specifically content positioned as news, is bound to lead people astray.

AI-generated content like this is becoming increasingly common and extremely convincing, blurring the line between reality and fiction, making it harder to determine what’s real online.