Fact Check: CGI video of a robot playing table tennis like a pro goes viral

Hyderabad: A video of what looks like a person and a robot playing professional table tennis together is being widely shared on social media.

The caption of the tweet reads, “When AI outmaneuvers us! Gosh, as long as it doesn’t supersede us in ‘human’ intelligence. (sic)” In the viral video you can see the professional table tennis player being defeated by the robot. The video is being shared with the narrative that this is what will happen when AI will take over human intelligence.

Considering the fact that some of the moves of the robot in the viral video look smooth and plausible, is the robot even real?

Let’s verify.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false as the viral video is computer-generated imagery (CGI).

We started our investigation by performing a reverse image search and found a similar video uploaded on YouTube titled “Yang Wang’s INSANE Defense Skills: The BEST Table Tennis Point of 2023.” The video is about the skills displayed by Wang Yang, a Slovak table tennis player of Chinese origin, during a professional match. In the video, he is seen playing against another player wearing black.

On close analysis, we found that both videos are the same, except that the viral clip has been digitally manipulated and edited. Using CGI, Yang Wang has been replaced with a robot that mimics his moves in the video, to make it look like it is the one playing the game. The details of the real match can be seen on the sports website ETTU.

These types of videos, when taken seriously, spread false narratives and establish fear claiming that AI has been capable enough to defeat a pro-level player in his field of sport. For further confirmation, we found multiple similar videos uploaded as shorts on YouTube. The shorts can be seen here and here.

Hence, the viral video doesn’t show a real robot playing table tennis. The video has been manipulated and edited using CGI.