The viral emotional support kangaroo is an AI creation

The video of the airport 'roo isn't real.
 By 
Tim Marcin
 on 
a kangaroo sign in front of a scenic desert scene
Credit: Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty Images)

You might've seen those viral images and videos of the emotional support kangaroo in an airport. Hopefully, you at least wondered if the video was AI-generated. Or maybe you were fooled by a quick scroll. We're here to tell that, yes, the viral emotional support kangaroo was indeed AI-generated.

Here is the video in question.

View this post on Instagram

How do we know it's AI? First, it's probably best to sit back and consider the video's content. A non-domesticated creature is acting as a service animal, calmly holding a boarding pass in its hands and staring at the camera like Jim Halpert from The OfficeBrother, that is not real. Second, the original was posted to the Instagram account @InfiniteUnreality, which posts AI-generated and VFX content.

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That didn't stop the video from being spread all across the internet. Most notably, it was posted by the X account @DramaAlert, where it has racked up 73 million views. The responses online were a mix of people joyfully reposting, wondering what was going on at that airport, and lots of jokes. To be fair, a number of people also pointed out that the video was AI-generated. Community Notes on X eventually noted that it was AI-generated as well.

Needless to say, to those who were duped, AI-generated video is getting much better, even if the scenario itself — an emotional support kangaroo — was hard to believe. So, as always in the age of AI, be careful out there for fakes.

close-up of man's face
Tim Marcin
Associate Editor, Culture

Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).


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