July 7, 2025
SINGAPORE – Hoping to visit a cable car attraction featured in a social media clip, an elderly couple in Malaysia made the more than 300km journey from Kuala Lumpur to Perak before finding out that the video was AI-generated and that the ride did not exist.
A hotel worker who broke the news to the couple detailed the incident in a post on Threads on June 30, saying that their experience had shocked her.
“(The couple) came to check into the hotel, and they asked if I’ve ridden the cable car at Kuak Hulu. I thought they were just kidding,” said the worker. Kuak Hulu is a kampung in Gerik, Perak.
But she soon realised the couple were serious when the elderly woman told her that they had travelled all the way from Kuala Lumpur for it.
The fake cable car is depicted in a nearly three-minute-long AI-generated video in which a journalist from “TV Rakyat” appears to introduce the attraction and interview visitors, including tourists from Thailand.
The video also features scenes of people queueing up at the “Kuak SkyRide” ticket counter.
It then cuts to show the cable car ride going over an expanse of trees, as well as near a stream and a group of deer grazing, before stopping near the foot of Baling Mountain in neighbouring Kedah state.
At the end of the video, an old lady is seen in the background doing a handstand. As she flips, her legs and body merge to become a misshapen blob, before she lands on her feet and returns to normal.
“I was so shocked… I explained to the auntie that the video was (made by artificial intelligence) and not real,” said the hotel worker.
“The auntie then asked, ‘Why would anyone want to lie? There was even a reporter (in the video)’,” she added.
The elderly woman insisted that she did not see any comments under the video to indicate that it was fake, and added she wanted to sue the “TV Rakyat” journalist.
The worker said she again tried to remind the woman that the journalist in the video did not exist.
When asked why they did not check with their children before visiting the non-existent attraction, the couple said they were too embarrassed.
In her post, the worker made a plea for people to check on the places their parents intend to visit during their travels.
Since the incident went viral on social media, it has gained nationwide attention, with the local police urging the public to be wary of viral content online and to verify the authenticity of such videos.
Acting Baling police chief Ahmad Salimi Md Ali told the New Straits Times on July 3 that they have not received any official complaints. However, he stressed that no such cable car project exists in the district.
He added that preliminary checks have confirmed the video was entirely fabricated.
“We advise the public not to fall for viral content without confirmation. In this era of AI-generated media, misleading materials can spread easily and cause confusion,” he said.