Putin may have fallen victim to AI-generated fakes while talking about orcas allegedly tearing polar bears apart

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, who compared the war against Ukraine to killer whales hunting polar bears, may have believed in fake videos created by artificial intelligence. There are no scientifically confirmed cases of killer whales killing polar bears, BBC reports, writes UNN.

Details

A large number of AI-generated videos are circulating online that allegedly show killer whales fighting polar bears. At the same time, no documented cases of such attacks have been found in publications by the International Association for Bear Research and Management.

Scientists know only of indirect feeding links between these species. As Arctic ice melts, their habitats increasingly overlap, and polar bears may feed on the remains of killer whale prey.

Putin linked the "food chain" to the war against Ukraine

On August 29, during a meeting with teachers, Putin said that children needed to be told "what kind of world we live in" and cited as an example the alleged hunting of polar bears by killer whales.

They (killer whales — ed.) eat these bears like small fry. They simply attack in a pack and tear them apart. It is all very interesting. Such a food chain. Children also need to be told about this so that they understand what kind of world we live in and why we are conducting a special military operation

Thus, the example that the Russian dictator chose to use to explain the war against Ukraine to children has no confirmation in known scientific observations of interactions between killer whales and polar bears.

Putin compared the war against Ukraine to orcas attacking polar bears30.08.26, 05:16 • 28019 views