Technology AI, Science and New Things
On Thursday a crowd gathered on O’Connell street in Dublin for a parade that never existed. A website based in Pakistan called ‘myspirithalloween.com’ had described the Halloween parade on a page that ranked highly in Google’s search results, in order to drive traffic for ad revenue.
The hoax spread to TikTok and other social media platforms where influencers posted about their plans to go. Hundreds of people ended up lining the streets patiently waiting for the event.
Eventually the Gardaí dispersed the gathering and informed others on social media about the hoax, but the large crowds disrupted Dublin's tram network, putting two lines out of service for half an hour.
The event has brought attention to the rise of SEO entrepreneurs and their use of generative AI to pump out content, some of it erroneous.
