After South Korea was hit with a lovebug infestation, social media posts and news reports shared a video falsely claiming it showed a flock of sparrows eating the insects on a mountain in Incheon, west of the capital Seoul. But the clip was made with AI.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “Breaking news. A predator of lovebugs has finally appeared! The lovebugs blanketing the entire mountain are defenceless before this army of sparrows?! Watch the video to see these sparrows, true lifesavers in action!” reads a Korean-language post shared on Threads<\/a> on July 3.<\/span><\/p>\n The eight-s<\/span>econd video appears to show a mountain covered in black-coloured insects and a swarm of sparrows preying on them.<\/p>\n Screenshot of the false Threads post captured on July 28, 2025, with a red X added by AFP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The claim surfaced online when the Asian nation was grappling with a lovebug invasion<\/a> between late June and July, which experts say highlights worsening climate change (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n First identified in South Korea a decade ago, Seoul and nearby cities are now annually hit by a weeks-long infestation of the Plecia nearctica insect, a type of March fly nicknamed “lovebug” for their distinctive mating behaviour, which sees them fly around in coupled pairs.<\/p>\n Complaints about the bugs, which scientists believe came from southern China and have surged with rising temperatures linked to climate change, have risen sharply, Seoul city data showed.<\/p>\n Videos<\/a> of huge clouds of lovebugs blanketing mountain trails drew international media attention earlier this month, as they leave\u00a0behind rotting black remains and a foul stench after dying (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n The clip was shared alongside similar claims elsewhere on\u00a0Threads<\/a>, X<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n “Never thought I’d see the day I’m rooting <\/span>for sparrows,” one responded, while another misled user said, “Nature’s self-control ability is remarkable”.<\/p>\n South Korean news outlets including <\/span>SBS<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span> and\u00a0YTN<\/span><\/span><\/a> f<\/span>eatured the clip in reports suggesting that predators of lovebugs might be emerging, but have since deleted them.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The video has a clear “Veo” watermark in the bottom right corner, although it has been cropped out in some posts.<\/p>\n The name refers to Google’s new\u00a0AI-powered video creation tool<\/a>, which allows users to generate realistic-looking footage currently limited to eight seconds long — the same as the clip shared in false posts (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\nAI-generated<\/h2>\n