While you are sitting on the couch in the living room browsing your social media, a stunning video catches your eye. You see a huge tiger jumping in the backyard of a house on its way to prey on a small child. Suddenly, a cat leaps to defend the child, attacks the fierce beast, and drives it away. Just as you are about to send this amazing video to a friend, a feeling of great doubt overwhelms you, and you wonder: could the scene be real? Some AI-generated animal videos are so realistic that you sometimes can't tell them apart from the real ones. And although these videos may seem like an innocent joke, scientists are ringing the alarm about the implications of these videos for conservation efforts. In a study published in the journal Conservation Biology, researchers examined the spread of such videos and found that they are linked to three main issues: the misunderstanding of animal behavior, the attribution of human traits to animals, and finally, the growing disconnect between society and nature.
