A review of the viral image that surfaced online on Saturday, showing Mood, the famous matatu owned by President William Ruto's son, George Ruto, had crashed, is fake.
The AI-generated image, which showed the famous Nairobi matatu overturned along a highway, left tongues wagging on social media for the better part of the weekend, with many people still believing that the matatu was involved in an accident.
However, a quick visual spot check by Kenyans.co.ke revealed some inconsistencies in the image, including irregular background elements, which are typical signs of an AI-generated image.
We further entered the image into multiple AI detection tools, which also confirmed that the image was AI-generated and not a real photograph. Our analysis of the viral picture that first surfaced on TikTok has found that the image is AI-generated.
According to at least three AI detector platforms, reversely.ai, wasitai.com, and isgen.ai, the picture is fake. Reversely.ai and Isgen.ai say the image is AI-generated with 100 per cent certainty, with the other placing a ranking of 78 per cent.
To further find out whether or not Mood was involved in an accident, Kenyans.co.ke reached out to an industry insider with links to the Mood crew. Branden Marshall clarified that the images circulating online depicting Mood involved in a road accident are not authentic and are AI-generated.
Brandon said that the vehicle has been in perfect condition and fully operational and is continuing its normal activities on the road.
According to him, the images are likely being generated by individuals who hate the owner of the matatu or who are trying to express their creativity for attention.
"The image is entirely AI-generated; the vehicle was never involved in an accident. Some people are doing it out of hatred because the car is linked to the president's son, some are doing it just to be creative, and others are doing it just for attention," Brandon said.
"The vehicle is in very good condition, and it is conducting its activity normally. Nothing is wrong, and it has not had any problems recently, and I believe it will not at any time soon," he added.
Since debuting in July, the Ksh14 million flashy matatu has been making headlines across the nation, headlining several entertainment events in Nairobi, in particular.
Earlier this year, on July 18, George held a concert at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) to mark the debut of the matatu.
However, two months later, the 14-seater matatu was involved in an accident in Eldoret after it was hit from behind.
The matatu had just arrived in the city on Sunday, September 14, morning for the highly anticipated homecoming event at Maili Tisa Park and Chill when the accident reportedly happened.
