AI bamboozles the internet again.
Last week, the Food Network star Anne Burrell was found dead in her Brooklyn, New York home. She was only 55 years old.
Burrell was a massive part of my childhood. My dad and I would sit together and watch Chopped almost every night, which she judged on. I was heartbroken to hear the news of her passing, and many food lovers felt the same way. If there is one thing about being a Southern woman, it is that we love our country music and home cooking, and watching Anne Burrell grow up is a huge reason I’m confident in the kitchen today.
Shortly after her passing, 100 loved ones mourned her death in a wake held on the Upper East Side. Some of those in attendance included other famous chefs, her husband, Stuart Claxton, and her Food Network colleagues, including Chopped judge Scott Conant, Amanda Freitag, and Marc Murphy.
With her death being a significant topic in the media space, some folks are taking the opportunity to capitalize on it, but it is a disgusting way.
Recently, an AI-generated article and a Facebook social media post gained some traction on social media, saying Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton performed at Burrell’s funeral. I’m not going to lie; I fell for the article by clicking on the headline since Burrell was a prominent figure. I didn’t think it was too far-fetched, given that Reba and Dolly are two women who have a passion for cooking.
However, as soon as the article opened, I was presented with clearly AI-generated images of a somber-looking Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire singing behind a coffin. In one of the images, the coffin is an entirely different color, along with differences in the flower arrangements. Then, just for my entertainment, I began to read the published article detailing the funeral—and it’s even worse.
The article also completely misrepresents the location of the funeral, claiming that it was held in Nashville. It also says that Burrell was involved in the music industry for forty years.
“She never stood in the spotlight, but for over 40 years, Anne Burrell coached, supported, and guided some of the biggest names in the industry- from local talent to stars whose voices would echo through stadiums. That included two women who owed her more than they ever said aloud: Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire.”
The remainder of the article highlights the songs they “sang” and details that the two women played a song that Burrell wrote but never released. It honestly made it sound like Dolly and Reba led the whole service. A handful of people fell for the post, commenting on the social media posts highlighting the article, saying how wonderful it was for them to support Burrell and sending prayers to the family.
While the tender sentiments were kind, it’s so scary how real AI can make things look. This is not even a good example of a convincing piece of AI media, but I know by reading the comments on social media that many not-so-savvy internet folks fell for it and are sitting at home right now, touched, thinking this was a real-life event.
A more recent, convincing AI-related event was a photo of Willie Nelson crying from an alleged “8-minute standing ovation.”
AI-generated content continues to trick the internet, but this one is disgusting to me. Trying to capitalize on a fake story surrounding someone’s death is slimy…
