By https://www.facebook.com/NITVAustralia
Publication Date: 2026-01-13 00:00:00
To many, he is an Aboriginal man who is building a following online – and yet he belongs to no nation.
He has no biological ancestry and is not recognized or claimed by any Aboriginal community. Nobody knows his family: no mob, no elders, no aunts, uncles or cousins.
His name is “Jarren” – no last name, no ancestry.
That’s because “Jarren” is AI – a completely fictional, digitally constructed version of an Aboriginal man.
“Jarren” is the creation of Keagan John Mason – a South African content creator based in New Zealand who some say blurs the lines between AI and human appropriation, while others call it “digital blackface.”
On social media, Mason has created several social pages called “Bush Legend: Wildlife Stories and Facts,” pages he describes as “digitally created for education and awareness.”
The pages provide interactions and facts about a variety of Australia’s native animals, including birds, reptiles and mammals.
The fictional “Jarren” is the moderator…
