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The advent of powerful generative AI tools has supercharged the proliferation of disinformation, with viral and fictional stories making the lives of public figures a living hell.
Facebook, in particular, has been overrun with misleading news stories, often featuring AI-generated images, that attract huge engagement.
Now William Shatner, the 95-year-old actor of “Star Trek” fame, has become the latest victim of the trend.
“My daughter came over to tell me her daughter heard that I had brain cancer,” he wrote in a caption of a April 2 Instagram post, which showed him sitting in a patio chair, smiling into the camera. “She took this photo and sent it to me to upload to prove I’m not ill.”
In a post on X, the Canadian actor further explained that “there is a page on Facebook that is using AI to create horrible fake news stories about me.”
Screenshots attached to his post show AI-generated pictures of him lying in a hospital bed and news tickers claiming he “has been diagnosed with stage IV glioblastoma — one of the most dangerous types of brain cancer.”
“All their stories are monetized,” Shatner wrote. “Most of the stories use an AI image of me. Facebook Support will not remove the page.”
“None of these stories are true but they apparently seem genuine enough for fans to repost them across social media and send messages of support to me and my family all while the culprits behind the account make money,” he added.
The page has since been taken down, but given that the posts proliferated widely, the damage likely has already been done.
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