Fact Check: Viral Video of Monk Riding a Crocodile Is AI-Generated

Viral videos are the driving force of social media. Almost every day, new videos go viral online—sometimes showing a lotus blooming on a hill, other times depicting a small child driving a car or even a plane. Such unusual videos frequently capture public attention.

Recently, fashion show videos featuring influential politicians and entrepreneurs from various countries have become hot topics on social media. These videos were later revealed by several media outlets to be AI-generated.

Nowadays, political parties are increasingly using AI as a tool to create misleading videos of opposition leaders, aiming to damage their public image.

In the race for more likes and comments, many users share these videos without verifying their authenticity, contributing to the widespread spread of misinformation.

Amid this, another video has gone viral. It shows a person wearing a saffron cloth, resembling that of a monk, jumping out of a boat and sitting on a crocodile while floating on a river. This video is currently making the rounds on social media. 

Fact Check:

There is no truth to the claim. The viral video of a monk sitting on a crocodile was created using AI. During our investigation, we found no reports of the incident being broadcast or published by any credible media outlets. If such an event had occurred, it would likely have been covered by major news platforms.

Upon close examination of the video, the crocodile's legs appear unnaturally still while it moves through the water, an indication that the video is not real.

Additionally, a reverse image search led to a YouTube channel called Dark Files AI, where the viral video had originally been uploaded. 

Similar videos have been uploaded to the YouTube channel. In one, a monk is seen sitting in the water while hundreds of crocodiles surround him. In another, he is seen riding on a crocodile's back and performing water stunts. 

It is believed that the viral video may have been created using AI.

When we analysed the video using the Hive moderation tool to verify its authenticity, the results showed that it was 88.9% likely to have been generated by AI or is a deepfake. 

 A user asked Grok about the video, and the response has already been viewed by over 13,000 users.

Grok responded: "The video of a man in a saffron cloth riding a crocodile could be fake or overly dramatic. Crocodiles are dangerous animals, and experts have pointed out that such peaceful interaction is highly unusual. While Hinduism symbolically reveres crocodiles, harming or using them in this way is not an accepted practice. Similar videos have previously been dismissed as attention-seeking stunts."

Therefore, it turns out that there is no truth to the claim. The viral video of a saint riding a crocodile on water was likely created using AI.