Online fury as popular WA-based FIFO influencer Bindi Raye revealed as AI-generated content

For WA’s mining crowd, Bindi Raye looked like the ultimate FIFO fantasy.

The 20-year-old content creator’s glossy version of mining life complete with videos of dongas, red dusty sites, and half-buttoned hi-vis quickly nabbed her 81,000 followers from across WA.

When the influencer is not on swing at a site up in WA’s Pilbara, she shares insights into her days off spent cheering on the West Coast Eagles or lounging in the sand on Cottesloe Beach.

There’s only one big issue: She’s not real.

Many have been left stunned this week after learning the woman of their dreams wasn’t all she seemed — with an explosive investigation revealing Bindi Raye is actually an AI-generated creation.

Discrepancies noticed across the FIFO influencer’s page have raised eyebrows in recent weeks.

Jumbled letters appearing on signs, slight distortions in backgrounds, and even slight inconsistencies with lip movements when talking to the camera are just some of the signs that have had experts throwing red flags over the account.

Priyanka Singh, a cybersecurity expert from the University of Queensland, told the ABC there were features of Raye’s page that were “almost 100 per cent AI-generated”.

“I can see the lip sync is not really going with what she’s saying,” Dr Singh said.

“I can really see some frame inconsistencies . . . and then you see the inconsistencies in the shadows.”

A visible logo for a mining company in one of the account’s now-deleted post, but it was discovered the company had no idea who Bindi Raye was despite her public persona as a hardworking FIFO employee.

“No one with that name or appearance has ever been employed here,” they told ABC.

A link to a pay-walled account on subscription platform Fanvue has furthered fury over the account.

Raye’s hoard of cashed-up FIFO working followers are being directed to pay up to $115 for pornographic videos of the young creator, as well as an ongoing monthly subscription of $9.24 for further access to videos and photos.

While Raye is not the first FIFO influencer to promote sexualised content on their page, the paywall has sparked discussions over whether the high earning mining profession had been specifically targeted for paid pornography.

The adult subscription site contains a notable caveat missing from the WA-based influencer’s Instagram page, however: The pornographic content of Bindi is clearly flagged as “AI generated”.

Rob Haywood, Fanvue’s head of trust and safety, told the ABC that Bindi had been confirmed as an AI creator on the platform, as are 75 per cent of their creators.

Despite this, he did state every Fanvue account was linked to real “verifiable people”.

Monash University research fellow Emily van der Nagel called the conversation around Bindi Raye’s account a “cultural moment of reckoning”.

“We do tend to overestimate how good we are at knowing the difference, and we like to pride ourselves on being able to detect authenticity from people,” she said.

“I totally can understand there would be a level of [followers] feeling uncomfortable or even betrayed.”

The page has reference the ongoing speculation about the account in a recent post, telling their thousands of followers “don’t believe everything you hear”, but has not issued any explanation over the noted discrepancies.

Meta had not responded to a request for comment by the time of publication, but the social media conglomerate removed the entire Bindi Raye account after PerthNow reached out on Wednesday.

“While AI-generated content is not against our rules, misleading people about who is really behind an account is, and we require people to disclose when they post realistic AI-generated content,” they said in an earlier statement.

“We know bad actors keep trying to evade detection, and we are continuing to invest technology and enforcement needed to keep pace.”

After coverage across Australia, TikTok has updated the influencer’s page with tags on all videos stating that the page “contains AI-generated media”.

Dr Singh said the account is just one example of how AI content has infiltrated the pornography industry.

“People have the notion like if it’s AI-generated, it would be a low-resolution video clip that would be very easy for them to discriminate and identify that it’s a fake,” she said.

“Seeing used to be believing.”

It is not understood who the real person is behind the viral influencer facade.

PerthNow reached out to the creator of the Bindi Raye, but had not received a reply by publication.