The British Museum Posted AI Slop...

(and quietly deleted it).

Update in this video here

On Tuesday, the 27th January, the British Museum posted to promote the musuem. Take a look at them. At first glance, they may look polished, but something feels off. (If you prefer video, please watch this post here!)

Slight correction: I don’t think it was explicitly promoting the Hawaii exhibit, due the similar style and colour schemes and in between promoting that exhibition, I perceived it that way but I believe it was a more generic museum promo. Not that this changes anything.

Thank you Steph the Archaeologist, for sending me the screenshots.

If you guessed AI slop, you’d be correct, not that the title of this post gives it away.

The comments quickly picked up on it and people immediately called the images out. Some speculated the account had been hacked, and honestly, that was my first thought, too. Shortly after, the post was quietly deleted, with normal posting resuming. No statement or acknowledgement.

Screenshot of the British Museum’s Instagram page, with me marking where the post was.

I commented on later posts asking them to address what had happened, genuinely concerned they’d been hacked, especially given the British Museum’s recent IT security issues. Instead of responding, they unfollowed me, and this silence is why I am making this post. This post is in two small parts: a breakdown of the post, and why this is bad.

Please go watch the update

The images appear to use an AI-generated model linked to a company called V8 Global. Two accounts were tagged: @ellylin1101 and @v8global.

Elly Lin appears to be a fully AI-generated persona associated with V8 Global, an “AI strategy agency.” She is still followed by the British Museum. Her bio states she is “a Fashion enthusiast Cozy lifestyle, and Interested in studying scamming as this the 1st step of anti-scam, in result learn a lot sales tips.” This is odd and raises serious red flags. The extremely low follower account is also highly suspicious.

V8 Global claims to “transform your business with AI-powered marketing technology.” They’re reportedly based in Hong Kong, founded in 2013, and claim over 700 clients, yet their social media presence doesn’t reflect that. A quick scroll suggests a pivot into AI marketing.

A screenshot from the who we are section of V8 Global’s website - https://www.v8gp.com/who-we-are

So what happened here? Was this a hack, or did the British Museum knowingly experiment with AI-generated promotional content? Either option is bad.

They have full access to the exhibition. They can photograph real objects, real spaces, real people. Using AI here isn’t ‘easier’ and is really strange.

Why does this matter?

The British Museum isn’t just any institution. They are easily one of, if not the most, influential museum in the UK, and arguably the world. They set a precedent for others to follow and deem ok.

This is also an institution already under constant scrutiny for its relationship with ‘stolen or contested’ artefacts. You’d think they’d want to avoid anything that is ethically ambiguous. Especially, when AI-generated images are known for stealing actual artists’ work.

There is also no financial claim to be made here. I don’t claim to be a finance expert, but from a look at their financial report for the 2024-2025 tax year, they welcomed around 6.5 million visitors, which is a return to pre-pandemic levels. I also mentioned that this isn’t a more financially accessible option in this case, when they can easily enter the exhibition.

In their own annual report, they claim a commitment to sustainability and reducing carbon emissions, something AI image generation directly works against.

What I want

I want the British Museum to acknowledge that this happened.

I want to know why it happened.

Who approved it?

Why was the post deleted?

And why did they choose silence instead of transparency?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments. If you found this interesting, please consider liking and subscribing. It really helps my account, and I post lots of archaeology content. I am not usually one for calling people out, but I felt a voice was needed in this.