St. Louis is currently suffering through an embarrassingly modern problem: several monkeys are loose somewhere in the city, and AI is making it much harder to figure out where they are… and if there actually are any at all.
As reported by the Associated Press, the escapees have been identified as vervet monkeys, first spotted near a Park in north St. Louis last Thursday.
Since then, the sightings have piled up, some seemingly legitimate, most seemingly a part of a tidal wave of AI-generated images and videos complicating the search. According to city officials, no one knows who owns the monkeys, no one knows how many are out there, and no one knows how they ended up wandering around an American city in January.
Health Department spokesperson Willie Springer says the most credible reports suggest up to four monkeys, though none have been captured. Owning monkeys is illegal in St. Louis, which makes it unlikely that anyone responsible will come forward. For now, all Animal Care and Control can do is work with primate experts from the St. Louis Zoo to locate them, if they even exist at all.
It’s a difficult situation, one made all the worse by how quickly AI has turned the search into a horror show of fake leads. Residents have been posting pictures and videos showing the monkeys being caught, riding in cars, and posing for social media pictures. Some of it is obviously fake, usual internet nonsense people get up to with even the most minor of viral news stories. Meanwhile, some are being tricked into thinking at least some of the images are real, which causes them to report them and send authorities on a wild goose… no, wait — wild monkey chase. Others don’t care and are joining the fray for the hell of it.
Health department spokesperson Willie Springer says he understands people are using AI to have fun with the story, but that “it’s been a lot in regard to AI and what’s genuine and what’s not.”
The confusion doesn’t stop with monkeys. At least one alleged rogue goat has also entered the rumor mill, backed by photos that may or may not have been generated by a machine.
If the monkeys are real, officials are urging residents to stay away from the monkeys if spotted. Vervets are intelligent and social, but can become aggressive when stressed. Anyone who sees monkeys in real life—not on Instagram—is asked to contact Animal Care and Control at 314-657-1500.
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