Two days ago, there were reports that a Canadian actor who underwent 12 plastic surgeries to resemble BTS’s Jimin died in a hospital in Korea. On April 25, British news media outlet Daily Mail reported that Canadian actor Saint Von Colucci (age 22) passed away the morning of April 23 at a hospital in South Korea due to complications from plastic surgery he received several months earlier.
A day later, the news media outlet took down the article after it was found that the news was a hoax and there was no confirmation on the passing of a Canadian actor in South Korea. However, the Daily Mail news report spread like wildfire, with various media outlets in Korea and globally (including TMZ and PageSix) reporting on it.
It is even unclear if an individual named Saint Von Colucci does really exist. Furthermore, his alleged publicist, Eric Blake, is nowhere to be found on social media or the web. There is no trace of Saint Von Colucci, who allegedly was active since 2019, except in an English article stating that he will be debuting in the K-pop industry with the album ‘T1K T0K H1GH SCH00L.’ But ‘T1K T0K H1GH SCH00L’ is not an album found on any of the South Korean music streaming sites such as Genie or Melon.
Additionally, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Violent Crime Investigation Unit reported that such a case had not been reported yet and that no related death incidents were confirmed. The Canadian Embassy in Korea is currently working to verify the facts. The embassy stated, “Global Affairs Canada is aware of reports of the death of a Canadian in South Korea and is working to confirm the information. No further information is available at this time.”
One journalist speculates that the source that lead to Daily Mail’s article is actually the work of AI with AI-generated images and AI-generated content. Raphael Rashid stated, “We have now entered the era of fake news generated by AI. It’s real, and the implications are serious, especially for journalists. Think about it: if anyone can create news stories that are convincing and images that are believable *all with just a few clicks* and fool everyone in the process, how can we trust what we see and read online? How can we separate truth from fiction, especially when the fake content generated is so sophisticated?” and included images of Daily Mail’s report on the Canadian actor.
As people become increasingly exposed to potential AI-generated hoaxes, they may lose trust in credible sources of information, making it more difficult to discern between fact and fiction.