In a surprising twist, the social media sensation known as the “Bush Legend” has been revealed to be a completely artificial creation, raising serious ethical concerns. With over 180,000 followers across Meta platforms, the account’s Aboriginal host is, in fact, a work of digital fiction, generated by AI technology.
The “Bush Legend” presents itself as an Australian wildlife expert, with a persona that blends the charisma of Gardening Australia’s Costa Georgiadi and the enthusiasm of the late Steve Irwin. Clad in khaki and speaking in a distinctly Australian vernacular, the character takes followers on immersive journeys through the outback, showcasing encounters with snakes, crocodiles, and other native fauna.
However, the realism of these videos has proven to be deeply troubling. Dr. Terri Janke, a lawyer and expert in Indigenous cultural and intellectual property, describes the creation of an Indigenous-presenting avatar as “theft that is very insidious” and a form of “cultural flattening.”
“You think it’s real, I was just scrolling through and I was like, ‘How come I’ve never heard of this guy?’ He’s deadly, he should have his own show,” Janke says. “But who’s personal image did they use to make this person? Did they bring together people? I feel a bit misled by it all.”
The concern extends beyond the use of an Indigenous-presenting avatar. Tamika Worrell, a senior lecturer in critical Indigenous studies at Macquarie University, likens the creation to a form of “digital blackface,” where a non-Indigenous person creates a caricature online.
“AI becomes this new platform that we have no control or no say in it,” Worrell explains. “Not only stories or language but actual visuals of us can often be taken from people that have passed away – or just blending a range of different people [to create an AI avatar] with no kind of accountability to the communities that these people are from.”
The potential for harm is twofold. Such accounts risk defaulting to the “palatable” or “comfortable” aspects of Indigenous cultural knowledge and experience, rather than the more complex reality. Additionally, they have the potential to amplify racism, as evidenced by the comments section of the “Bush Legend” page.
Toby Walsh, a professor of artificial intelligence at the University of New South Wales, warns that AI systems are trained on large-scale datasets that can inherently carry biases. “Certain groups may be stereotyped because the video data or the image data that exists in that group online is somewhat stereotypical. So we’re going to perpetuate that stereotype moving forward.”
While the “Bush Legend” account has addressed the criticism, stating that it does not seek to “represent any culture or group,” the ethical concerns remain. As AI technology continues to advance, the need for robust safeguards and the active involvement of Indigenous communities in the creation of such content has never been more crucial.
