New Delhi, April 23 -- A social media user has sparked an online wave of alarm. The user, known as Shirish on X, shared a hyper-realistic AI-generated cheque.

It appeared to be an official UCO Bank cheque for Rs.69,000. The cheque was made payable to Shirish's own name. He claimed it was created using OpenAI's newly-launched ChatGPT Images 2.0 model. His post carried a chilling caption: "We are so cooked."

The image went viral almost immediately. It showed every element of a real bank cheque. The account number, bank branch details, signature line and MICR band at the bottom all looked authentic. The level of detail alarmed thousands of users across the platform.

Social media reactions were divided but largely unsettled. One user wrote...