Couple duped by AI video, travels 300km to visit a tourist spot that does not exist

An elderly couple from Kuala Lumpur embarked on a 300-kilometre journey to Gerik, only to discover that the tourist attraction they had set out to visit, a cable car experience in Kuak Hulu, does not exist.

The trip was based entirely on an AI-generated fake news video that has recently gone viral online.

The nearly three-minute video, which first surfaced on TikTok, was crafted to look like a legitimate news segment. It featured a fabricated news anchor from a fictitious channel called "TV Rakyat," reporting on the supposed launch of the "Kuak Skyride", a scenic cable car ride in northern Malaysia.

Using AI-generated visuals, the video showed the ‘anchor’ interviewing fake tourists, riding the imaginary cable car, and even presenting fabricated maps and wayfinding details.

The production quality and attention to detail convinced viewers, including the couple, that the attraction was real.

Excited by what they believed was a newly launched destination, the couple traveled hundreds of kilometers to Gerik for what they described as a “dream vacation.”

Their excitement, however, quickly turned to confusion when they checked into a local hotel and asked staff for directions to the Kuak Skyride. It was then that they were informed the attraction did not exist and that the video they had trusted was entirely fake.

In their frustration, the couple reportedly expressed a desire to sue the journalist featured in the clip, not realizing that both the reporter and the entire segment were AI-generated.