Erling Haaland Is Everywhere at the World Cup. Most of It Is AI
Norwegian striker Erling Haaland isn’t just a footballer anymore. He’s become an internet character perpetuated by fans and AI.
Get smart on it
A viral video circulating during the World Cup showed a footballer in a restaurant glancing at his reflection, but fact checkers traced the footage to a Chinese comedian's skit rather than the athlete himself. The clip accumulated millions of views despite being identified as AI-generated, demonstrating how fabricated content can spread and be embraced if it aligns with how fans perceive a public figure's character. This reflects a shift in how sports fandom operates online, where athletes are treated as evolving fictional characters with recognizable traits and storylines, and fans actively create and share fan-made content including AI-generated material to fill gaps in the official narrative. The new celebrity economy depends less on access to the actual person and more on audiences' willingness to perpetuate and believe in the character that has been collectively constructed around them.
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