Another TikTok video has gone viral, this time, showing an incredible and horrifying giant sea monster that, apparently, could be seen on Google Earth in the waters of Antarctica.
But while some people responded with shock and terror at the sighting of the enormous creature, the majority understood the truth right away, which is that this video is simply not real. And there are three reasons why we know this video has been digitally edited.
First, the monster is an exact replica of a fictional cartoon from a popular kid’s show, SpongeBob SquarePants. This creature in the show is called the “Alaskan bull worm,” and is in no way a real animal.
Second, when you enter the coordinates (63°00’29.0″S 60°44’08.0”W) for the apparent Google Earth video in the real Google Earth, there is no street view or photos to see. Technically, the coordinates are in Antarctica, but that’s all Google Earth can show you.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, there is no other information about this supposed finding on the internet. And if this was real, marine biologists and a variety of other researchers would be going crazy trying to find out exactly what it is and where this animal could be found.
There are certainly still some people who believe that the video is real and that it cannot be found anywhere else on the internet or even on Google Earth because “they” don’t want us to know, but that theory is widely doubted.
With today’s increase in AI-generated content and art, there are more fake videos than ever before. The new technology has made it almost impossible for the untrained eye to distinguish what’s real and what was created by a computer.
And with the surfacing of the sea monster video, many are wondering how Google plans to ensure its Google Earth videos, photos, and tags are the real deal.
Google’s first attempt at an Earth mapping system was fairly unimpressive. It used cameras on cars and various other forms of transportation to capture data around the world; however, Google quickly realized this plan was both expensive and inefficient.
Today, Google uses gamification to harvest user data willingly supplied to play games such as Ingress and Pokémon Go. These games, and many others like them, created an incredible amount of map data for Google, and continue to do so today.
Google’s extensive global mapping system is absolutely incredible; it covers the majority of the globe, including parts of Antarctica. So while Antarctica is incredibly desolate, demanding, and challenging to visit, people around the world can use Google Earth to explore the strange continent.
Though many love to use Google Earth to travel the world without ever leaving their homes, it’s crucial to remember that even Google is susceptible to computer tricks. And with AI-generated images on the rise, you simply cannot believe everything you see anymore, even on Google.
