Before you panic about a lion in your local supermarket, take a deep breath… the only thing prowling here is artificial intelligence.
Global (17 June 2025) – If you’ve seen the viral TikTok of a lion casually strolling into a grocery store and helping itself to a meat aisle buffet, don’t worry, no humans were harmed, and neither was the store’s actual stock.
The video might feel like a scene from a surreal wildlife-meets-retail crossover but here’s the good news: it’s not real. It’s AI-generated.
The video, titled “Wild Lion Enters Grocery Store in South Africa,” has already racked up over 22 million views. And while the visual might raise your blood pressure for a second (especially if you’ve ever done your Woolies run in flip-flops), most viewers were quick to point out that something felt a bit… off.
From the bizarre man holding a glass door, to what looks like a person trying to push the lion with a trolley, the fact that the lion looks blurry and that the meat counter changes in the different angles… many recognised the digital fingerprints of generative AI. A scroll through the creator’s profile, “Ataques Feroz,” confirms the trend, the account is filled with hyper-realistic yet clearly fabricated scenarios created with AI tools.
@ataquesferoz Wild Lion Storms Into Grocery Store#animals #wildanimals #Lion #Africa ♬ som original – ATAQUES FEROZ
So why do people make videos like this?
It’s the intersection of art, tech, and good old-fashioned entertainment. Creators use generative AI to spark curiosity, stir emotions, or simply show off what’s possible with today’s tools. Some hope to go viral (which this one definitely has), while others use it as a way to experiment with storytelling in the digital age. It’s not always meant to trick, sometimes it’s just meant to make you go, “Wait, what?!”
Still, the line between real and fabricated is getting blurrier, so here are a few quick tips to spot AI-generated content before you end up believing lions have joined your Pick n Pay loyalty programme:
- Watch the people: If everyone in the video seems weirdly calm or moves like a video game character, it’s probably AI.
- Look at the lighting and shadows: AI often messes these up, especially in complex environments.
- Check the source: If the account regularly posts dramatic or unbelievable videos without credible links or news reports, that’s a red flag.
- Listen to the audio: AI often fails to replicate background noise accurately.
- Reverse image or video search: If you’re really unsure, this can help track down the origins.
The best part of all of this? We’re learning. As AI becomes more integrated into our daily scrolls, so too does our ability to critically engage with what we see. Misinformation is real but so is media literacy. And the more we understand how AI works, the more fun (and safe) we can have with it.
So no, there isn’t a lion in your local Spar picking out ribeye steaks. But there is a wild world of tech that’s pushing creative boundaries… and giving us a bit of a laugh along the way.
by 