FACT CHECK: No, Video Does Not Show A Robot Attacking A Factory Worker
A video shared on Instagram allegedly shows a robot attacking a factory worker.
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Verdict: False
This video is not genuine. A spokesperson for Sozo Bear Films, the video production company behind the video, confirmed in an email to Check Your Fact the video is not real.
Fact Check:
NASA is developing a snake-like robot intended to one day be sent to one of Saturn’s moons in search of life, according to Fox Business. The moon is called Enceladus and is believed to have an ocean underneath its icy surface where life might reside, CBS News reported.
The Instagram video claims to show footage of a robot moving boxes that gets “angry” when another robot makes a mistake in the assembly line. The robot then appears to hit a conveyer belt repeatedly until sparks fly, then picks up a box and throws it at a nearby factory worker.
“Worker tries to calm it down like a wild animal?” reads text overlaid on the video. “ROBOT ATTACKS WORKER!”
The video is digitally fabricated, however. It was originally posted to TikTok by @thelukepilgrim. “Filmmakers/VFX Artists making Sci-fi short films,” the account’s bio reads.
Luke Pilgrim is co-owner and director of VFX production company Sozo Bear Films, according to its website. (RELATED: Did A.I Robots Kill 29 Humans In A Japanese Lab?)
“We made the video using visual effects,” a spokesperson for Sozo Bear Films confirmed in an email to Check Your Fact. “We use our tiktok and youtube platform to hone our visual effects skills and try out new ideas so that’s essentially what this video was. It’s a full CGI shot meaning all of it was modeled in 3D in blender and animated by our lead vfx artist Ellis Treece.”
The spokesperson also directed Check Your Fact to a YouTube video demonstrating how the animation was created.
This is not the first time advanced technology has been used to spread misinformation on social media. Check Your Fact recently debunked a video allegedly showing a robot from Boston Dynamics practicing hand-to-hand combat.
