Australian influencer Lily Jay Hinson has spoken out against recent allegations suggesting she is using AI-generated images to fake her charity work.
Hinson, 31, who has been dubbed ‘Belle Gibson 2.0’, was exposed for using AI videos in her humanitarian content following an investigation by ABC News Verify.
The probe into her online posts revealed several photos and videos promoting her charity work in developing countries had been created and enhanced by AI.
Now, the influencer has taken to Instagram to slam the allegations as ‘evil propaganda’ saying the accusations ‘won’t stop’ her work.
‘You guys really believe all this propaganda online about me? No, no, no, no. This won’t stop me. I’m going to get even louder,’ she began her rant while standing in a Gloria Jeans cafe.
‘Look, my team told me not to respond to these allegations because they are just so ridiculous, but this has just gone way out of proportion.’
Australian influencer Lily Jay Hinson, 31, has spoken out against recent allegations suggesting she is using AI-generated images to fake her charity work
‘I will be posting a long video today exposing the truth, going live with the teams to show you all the aid is real, and that this is all just a carefully orchestrated attack against me,’ she continued.
‘I expect apologies from every single hater online who jumped to conclusions, slandered me online, and aided in this crazy propaganda spreading.
‘Some of you guys have honestly got this completely twisted. This is only going to make me speak up louder.
‘Wallahi I promise you I won’t stop standing for the oppressed and our work is going to get even stronger and even more inshallah.
‘Don’t worry, Allah is the best of planners. But also I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who supported me during this. Jummah mubarak, guys.’
Hinson added the caption, ‘Moving mountains inshallah [God willing],’ to the post.
She then commented: ‘Do not allow the fake bot negative comments or the evil propaganda to distract us all!!! WE WILL NOT STOP INSHALLAH.’
The Instagram account for the Lily Jay Foundation also put out a statement on Wednesday, admitting to using AI in its videos.
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Hinson, who has been dubbed ‘Belle Gibson 2.0’, was exposed for using AI videos in her humanitarian content following an investigation by ABC News Verify
‘During the creation of a very limited number of social media marketing materials, members of our marketing team incorporated a small number of AI-generated introductory clips featuring Lily Jay,’ the statement read.
‘These brief introductory sequences, typically lasting only a few seconds, were used solely as opening hooks before transitioning to genuine footage of our humanitarian work.
‘They represented only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of clips shared across our platforms and were never used to depict, replace, or fabricate humanitarian activities or aid delivered on the ground.’
ABC claimed last weekend that Hinson has been using AI to generate and enhance videos to make it look like her charity, the Lily Jay Foundation, is providing supplies to people in developing nations.
The ABC investigation centred around a video Hinson shared in February, in which she claimed she opened an orphanage for children in Uganda.
In the clip, kids are seen wearing white T-shirts printed with a Ugandan flag and a Lily Jay Foundation logo as they cheered and waved lollipops in the air.
‘We washed them, gave them new clothes, everything a child needs to grow up in a positive environment,’ she says in the footage.
However, ABC went on to claim Hinson’s appearance in the video was AI-generated, as well as the clip of the children holding lollipops.
Now, the influencer has taken to Instagram to slam the allegations as ‘evil propaganda’ saying the accusations ‘won’t stop’ her work
The Instagram account for the Lily Jay Foundation also put out a statement on Wednesday, admitting to using AI in its videos
The banner positioned behind Hinson, which again showed her foundation’s logo, also appeared to suddenly disappear at different points in the video.
Another angle showed the back of one of the white shirts she handed out, which seemed to misspell the name of her foundation.
The video has since been deleted from Hinson’s page.
Other videos found on her account also appear to contain AI generated imagery, with one clip of her standing in front of a truck showing the most obvious signs.
In the post, Hinson stood in front of a truck emblazoned with the Lily Jay Foundation logo as she claimed it was ‘off to Gaza’ with supplies.
However, moments into the video, the logo on the truck appeared to clip over her arm despite the vehicle being parked behind her.
In May, a press release by the PR company Real Media Group also claimed Lily had won the Austral-Global Excellence Award for Humanitarian Leadership.
The announcement contained two images of Lily smiling as she received the award.
However, ABC claimed an analysis conducted on the photos showed they both carried the ChatGPT SynthID watermark, revealing they were generated by AI.
It should also be noted that the website for Real Media Group, which posted the press release, showed Lily was the ‘co-founder’ of the PR company.
The website has since been shut down.
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