AI-Generated Video Blames Strained Healthcare in Northern India

The Strained Healthcare System in Uttar Pradesh

India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, is facing significant challenges within its public healthcare system. Issues such as entrenched corruption, staff shortages, overcrowded hospitals, and poor facilities have long been reported by local news outlets. Despite these concerns, there have been no official reports of a patient falling out of a moving ambulance in December.

A video circulating online, which claims to show such an incident, has sparked controversy and criticism against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, the video is actually AI-generated, according to its creator. The clip shows a patient on a stretcher seemingly falling out of the open back door of a moving ambulance and rolling along a highway.

Hindi-language text over the video reads: "The Yamuna Expressway: See how active the BJP government is in addressing the needs of patients. Look at the pace of development under the BJP in Uttar Pradesh."

Multiple local news outlets have reported cases of entrenched corruption and malpractice, as well as inadequate healthcare facilities in hospitals across the northern state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP claims it plans to revamp healthcare in Uttar Pradesh to improve disease control, maternal health, and medical education. However, opposition Samajwadi Party chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has accused the BJP of "destroying" the state’s healthcare system, citing neglect and mismanagement.

The same video of a patient apparently falling out of an ambulance was also shared with similar claims on Facebook and Instagram. Comments on the misleading posts indicate that some users believed the video showed a real incident. One user wrote: "In Uttar Pradesh, only God can save the patient. Shame on the Uttar Pradesh government!" Another wrote: "The life of the common man has no value; corruption has ruined this state."

However, there are no credible reports of such an incident taking place on the 165.5-kilometre-long (102 miles) Yamuna Expressway.

Engagement Bait

A reverse image search using keyframes from the clip led to the same video on a Facebook page called "Bargachhi Krishi Farm" on December 8. Its caption includes a series of hashtags about agriculture and farming, but does not mention Uttar Pradesh or the Yamuna Expressway.

The page's owner, Hemsagar Bhattarai, told AFP on December 15 that he had created the video using an AI tool to increase engagement on his social media accounts. The Nepali labourer working in Doha said he runs the page for "extra income and entertainment," downloading and stealing content from Chinese social media platforms to upload to his own accounts.

"This was the first time I used ChatGPT and Sora AI to create a video, and it went viral," Bhattarai said.

A close analysis of the video shows it contains visual inconsistencies, a hallmark of AI-generated content. The patient's oxygen mask does not appear to be connected to a tank and does not get pulled away when the stretcher falls out of the ambulance. The ambulance is also missing a door. Unusually shaped vehicles are seen on the opposite side of the road, while some of the cars appear randomly as the video plays.

AFP uploaded the footage to Hive Moderation’s AI video detector, which indicated a 95 percent probability that the video contained “AI-generated or deepfake content.”

AFP has previously debunked other AI-generated content misrepresented as showing authentic events.