AI photo of purple apples growing in Sask. sparks attention, experts debunk image

A social media post of purple apples “growing” in Saskatchewan has sparked a lot of attention.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) photo has some people questioning if the Prairie province produces the unique fruit. However, garden experts across the province state there is no such thing.

“I'm a horticulturalist, I know a lot about trees. I know there is no such thing as a purple apple,” expressed Rachelle Hofmeister, department manager of Dutch Growers Home & Garden.

“We've had lots of apples that have been developed in Saskatchewan, but none of them are purple. They all have white flesh and red skin."

Hofmeister said there are thousands of different types of apples, but purple ones do not grow in Saskatchewan.

“We can grow world-class apples here (in Saskatchewan). We can probably grow 10,000 different varieties of apples here and the vast majority of them are great large size apples,” she explained.

“For example, the honey crisp apples that you can buy in the grocery store, you can grow in your backyard.”

An AI post is saying purple apples originate from Saskatchewan. However, garden experts and educators debunk the fake news. (Sierra D'Souza Butts / CTV News) Another horticulturalist from Yorkton commented on the matter.

"Purple apples are not a thing, you can have purple leaves on the crab apples, but purple apples is not a thing. That's AI generated,” said Jenny Young, secretary and owner of Young’s Plant World.

Young recommends people give their local garden centres a call if they have questions about images of produce they see online.

"Always do your research, you can always call us. We'll gladly give advice and offer up our knowledge,” she expressed.

CTV News reached out to the person who posted the image but did not hear back in time for publishing.

While the myth is relatively harmless, it does point to a larger issue about the credibility some internet claims make in the world of AI.

“Now, you can simply type something in very quickly and create a compelling image in seconds and it's very believable,” explained Dr. Alec Couros, University of Regina’s director of centre for teaching and learning.

“The old construct idea that seeing is believing is something we just have to throw away at this point. It's no longer good enough to verify evidence."

Couros points out that many AI platforms have limits to the images people can create, but it is also individuals’ responsibilities to validate posts they see online.

"When you look at social media, you always have to go into a great degree of skepticism,” he explained.

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“Carrying a skeptic mindset is really an important trait. This is something we should teach as families, we should teach in schools and understand that even if you see it, even if it's right in front of your eyes, it's something that can be really misconstrued and you might be being tricked.”

Couros also recommends people learn how to use the technology to better understand how it works, including youth.

“I think every school kid should have some time playing around with the construction of reality like that, just to get a sense they can actually do this so when they see something, it’s not something foreign to them,’ he said.

“It’s something they absolutely know how to do, they know the limitations of such tools, they also know how these tools can be used to trick others.”