TRUE OR FALSE. Did a giant octopus wash up on an Indonesian beach?

A photo of a giant octopus is circulating on social media. This is actually an image generated by artificial intelligence. But giant octopuses exist.

If you’re planning to go on vacation to the ends of the earth this summer, this photo may have scared you. The image of a giant octopus is circulating on social networks at the beginning of June. Internet users assure that the animal washed up on a beach in Bali, Indonesia. In the image, the brown octopus is several meters long, its tentacles are gigantic. The passers-by, right next to it, seem tiny. Is this photo real or fake?

The image is wrong. When you do a reverse image search, the photo does not appear anywhere, it is not posted by an official media or a photographer. Which immediately rings a bell. We finally find the image on an Instagram account, specializing in artificial intelligence. The photo was therefore created from scratch.

The author writes mini fictions, in English, inspired by images generated by artificial intelligence. Here he posted several photos of giant octopuses, from different angles. In the description of his account, the author speaks of “experimentation” around AI. A form of artistic research.

In any case, it is written in black and white that the images are generated by AI and that the story is fiction. But some Internet users share the cliché taken out of context. It ends up going around the world, and Internet users believe in the existence of this gigantic octopus.

It must be said that there are XXL octopuses. The largest in the world is the giant Pacific octopus. On average, it is five meters long and 50 kilos. But an exceptional specimen has already been observed: the octopus measured nine meters and weighed 272 kilos, as specified by the Canadian Wildlife Federation. False information therefore also works because there is a favorable context, a basis of truth. We reassure you, in France, the octopuses that you can come across are on average 60 centimeters long!