Education Ministry slammed for posting AI image of fictional sextuplets starting 1st grade

The Education Ministry is being slammed for posting an AI image on Friday of a fictional sextuplets starting first grade in a social media post ahead of the start of the school year on September 1.

The ministry posted a picture of the six children standing in front of a school with the caption: “Next week we go back to school! In the meantime, meet the only sextuplets in the country who are entering first grade: Oren, Omer, Uri, Nadav, Dvir and Gil Orenstein.”

The post then quoted their fictional mother, Ilanit, as saying:  “I invested a lot in raising the children; it’s a great miracle that they were all born healthy. I took a two-year break from work to focus on raising the children and my husband was the sole breadwinner. I am most excited in the world to see them grow up.”

No such sextuplets exist, and the photo was AI-generated.

The post quickly drew a backlash on social media, with thousands of users slamming the ministry that is supposed to educate children for spreading blatant lies.

“One of your more embarrassing posts. The education system is collapsing, there are no teachers, no values, and schools are barely managing, and this is what you decide to post? A chauvinistic AI story about imaginary sextuplets with a mom who stays home and a father who supports them,” one person responded on Facebook.

“Focus on improving the education and not on degrading the conversation online.”

After being caught in the lie, the ministry defended the post.

“Ok, we admit these sextuplets are not really on the way to first grade, the photo was created with AI,” the ministry said in a further post.

“We wanted to open the school year with a smile and to remind you that just like in school, on the web we also need to stop, check, and use our critical thinking,” the ministry said.

“Wishing everyone a curious, fun school year full of good surprises,” its second post said.