The Independent reported that thousands of people took to the streets in Dublin to take part in a Halloween parade that did not take place. Why did they do that? It was all because of an AI-generated ad promoting a fake event.
The My Spirit Halloween website advertised a completely fabricated McNas Halloween Parade that was scheduled to take place on the streets of Dublin from 7pm to 9pm. News of the parade quickly spread online and even made it into Google’s news rankings.
That’s right, thousands of people dressed up in Halloween costumes and stood on the streets for hours waiting for an event that would never happen. They even left space on the street for the parade to pass through. That’s thoughtful, but also a little sad.
The situation forced Irish police to issue a message urging those planning to attend the parade to “disperse safely.” A spokesperson for the charity said: “Contrary to information circulating online, there will be no Halloween parade in Dublin city center this evening or tonight.”
Please note that contrary to information circulating online, there is no Halloween parade scheduled to take place in Dublin city center this evening or tonight.
Anyone who gathered on O’Connell Street in anticipation of such a parade is asked to safely disperse.
thank you. pic.twitter.com/KmVPFKEZbP
— An Garda Síochána (@GardaTraffic) October 31, 2024
Local City Councilor Janice Boylan expressed her disappointment with the whole situation, saying, “Everyone is trying to have a fun and safe Halloween. I thought it would be a great thing to go to the parade,” she said. Said. “I know there were so many people there. It’s very disappointing.”
Although the My Spirit Halloween listing has been removed, the question remains as to why it appeared in the first place. It’s worth noting that this is separate from popular seasonal retailer Spirit Halloween.
According to Yahoo News, the My Spirit Halloween website appears to be from Pakistan and features all kinds of AI-generated content, including the ads that caused the whole issue. This particular post happened to be picked up by TikTok and Google, causing literal fake news to go viral.
Pretty wild, right? An AI-generated post, presumably created in Pakistan, actually brought thousands of people to the streets on the other side of the world. And what is that curse? oh yeah. “I hope you live in interesting times.”
