“PEOPLE WERE SAYING I SHOULD BE D-E:A-D…” — FOOTY FAN WITH RARE SKIN CONDITION SPEAKS OUT AFTER AI COMMENTS SPARK OUTRAGE!
‘People were saying that I should be dead.’
A Brisbane man is being targeted by cyber bullies after Meta AI compared his rare skin condition to a ‘zombie costume’
Social media trolls have taken aim at a man with a genetic skin condition after an AI bot assumed he was wearing a “zombie costume”.
The online vitriol came after Dean Clifford shared an image of himself and his mother at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium to Facebook and Instagram on Friday night.
The social media post was bombarded with hateful comments targeting his appearance, caused by Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB).
The rare genetic disorder causes skin to become extremely fragile, leading to blisters from minor friction or injury.
Clifford told 7NEWS that many of the comments likened his appearance to “horror characters” while some were “saying that I should be dead”.
He has since been getting a social media notification once every 30 seconds in the days since the post, most of which were hate comments.
But it wasn’t just trolls taking aim at him, with Meta AI suggesting the prompt “what’s the story behind the zombie costume?” to users.
Clifford has been using social media to grow awareness for the disorder, and as a platform for his role as a motivational speaker.
He is believed to be one of the oldest people in the world with EB. Clifford’s childhood doctor predicted he wouldn’t see beyond the age of five, which he has outlived by 40 years.
After the recent torrent of online abuse and “childhood memories of people that have been afraid of my appearance”, Clifford is now rethinking his approach to social media.
“We’re sorry to hear about Mr Clifford’s experience and sincerely apologise for any distress caused,” Meta said.
“These prompts were generated automatically and may not always produce the results intended.
We take this matter seriously and constantly seek feedback on our AI products and models to make them better over time.
“People can report AI-generated contact they find inappropriate with our in-app reporting tools.”
