Fact Check: Viral Video showing dog averting a fire accident due to short circuit is an AI-generated one

AI can generate realistic, but misleading, videos that portray dangerous interactions as harmless. A viral fake video purporting to show a dog bringing a bear cub onto a porch, or another of a bear interacting with a person through a window, normalizes dangerous human-wildlife encounters. This can encourage people to let their guard down or attempt to interact with wild animals, leading to harmful situations for both humans and wildlife. These videos portray animals, especially wild animals, acting in overly humanized or uncharacteristic ways. This can give viewers a false sense of security or create unwarranted fear, potentially impacting policies and behaviors toward wildlife.

The increasing quality of AI-generated content makes it difficult for viewers to distinguish between reality and fabrication. Videos that look like authentic home security or doorbell camera footage can be particularly deceptive. Viewers often believe and share the content without question, causing it to go viral and contributing to the spread of misinformation.

AI models are trained on large datasets, including content showing animals in poor conditions or being exploited. The AI learns from this data and may perpetuate harmful behaviors or themes in new, AI-generated content, further normalizing unethical practices.

One such video of a dog sitting in a room, averting a fire accident due to a short circuit, is going viral on social media with the claim that the dog is extremely intelligent and was able to identify the danger of a short circuit. The 10-second video shows a fire incident that started due to a short circuit in a plug. The dog, after seeing the fire, removes the plugs from the sockets and averts a huge accident.

The video is shared with captions like “Don’t pass without leaving a big. For this brave doggo, he literally saved his family from a house fire by stopping a short circuit before it spread. Not all heroes wear capes…”

Here is the screenshot of the claim

Fact check:

The claim is False. The video is an AI-generated one.

When observed the video carefully, in one of the frames, we can see that the wires are in complete disarray, and some wires are incomplete. It is indicative of one of the many persistent issues with AI-generated visuals, where intricate details are either distorted or appear in awkward angles. We took the help of Deepfakes Analysis Unit to debunk this video. Here is the screenshot.

When we extracted the keyframes from the viral video and checked them using AI detection tools, we found that the video is an AI-generated one.

When we checked with detection tool WasitAI, while one frame was detected as suspicious, implying that the visuals were generated mostly with the help of AI, another did not indicate significant tampering. Here are the screenshots.

Pets, especially puppies and kittens, are prone to chewing. Electrical cords are particularly enticing for them, and chewing on them can result in a fatal electric shock or burns. A pet can start a fire by chewing through a live cord, which can spark and ignite nearby flammable items like bedding or carpet. Pets may also knock over free-standing lamps or other appliances, which can break bulbs and cause a fire. A pet could knock an electrical appliance into a water dish or other water source, creating a serious electrocution risk. Curious pets might use their paws or whiskers to investigate an electrical outlet, which can lead to injury. There are also reports of dogs causing fires by urinating on wall outlets.

Use cord protectors or run exposed wires through PVC pipes to make them inaccessible to pets. Unplug all electrical cords and appliances when you are not actively using them. Exercise caution with heated beds, water fountains, and other electronic pet products, which can be fire hazards if used improperly.

Hence, the viral video is an AI-generated one. The claim that a dog averted a fire accident due to short circuit is False.