A fake image of a waterfall coming from the sky in Red Deer, made using artificial intelligence, has been shared thousands of times on social media, with some online seemingly believing it to be real.
This post falsely claims that at 2:35 p.m. on June 30, storm clouds formed over a local strip mall and a "massive vertical plume of precipitation erupted downward in a focused column from the centre of the cloud system."
This did not occur. Environment Canada and Climate Change statistics show there was no precipitation throughout most of June 30, with the exception of 0.2 millimetres between 11 and 11:59 p.m.
"Local businesses scrambled to bring customers inside as winds picked up and the sky darkened ominously," the Facebook post states — which, again, is not true.
"Vehicles in the parking lot were left soaked but otherwise undamaged. No injuries have been reported, though several drivers narrowly avoided collisions in the confusion and low visibility."
The post includes manufactured statements from Environment Canada and Climate Change. One Facebook page, which claims to feature posts "about end of the world signs," received 10,000 shares, 15,000 likes and 2,000 comments on their post of the image — it's unclear if this page is where the AI image originated (the name of this page isn't included in this story to discourage the spread of misinformation).
The City of Red Deer issued a statement to the Advocate when asked if they had received any comments regarding this post.
"While we have not received any comments on this particular post, the city often receives inquires through social media, email, phone calls and in person when items like this circulate online," the city states.
"We advise anyone who comes across information online consider the source, location details in images, names mentioned in posts and other indicators of credibility. In the case of weather emergencies or alerts in Red Deer, official notifications will always come from Environment Canada, Alberta Emergency Alerts, the City of Red Deer website and social media pages, and local radio and news stations."
