In a stunning display of technology doing exactly what we asked it to do but in the worst possible way, a social media post sent cricket fans into a mourning spiral this week after Instagram’s automated translation mistakenly declared Afghanistan batter Rahmat Shah dead.
The chaos began when Afghanistan all-rounder Karim Janat posted a condolence message on Instagram alongside a picture of Rahmat Shah, with text written in Pashto. Instagram’s auto-translate feature, clearly not fluent in grief, rendered the message as: “With great sadness, I heard the news of the passing of Rahmat Shah, the legendary player of the Afghanistan National Cricket Team.”
Fans promptly lost their minds. Condolences poured in. Shock rippled through the cricket world. It was a real bummer - except Rahmat Shah was, and remains, very much alive.
The actual message was about the death of Rahmat Shah’s mother, not the cricketer himself. The correct translation: “I heard the news of the death of the respected mother of Rahmat Shah, the talented player of the national cricket team.” A subtle difference that Instagram’s AI, in its infinite wisdom, completely mangled.
Rahmat Shah last played for Afghanistan in an ODI against Bangladesh in October last year, where he retired hurt. He has represented the country in 11 Tests, 125 ODIs, and one T20I, scoring over 5,000 international runs. He has now also survived a false obituary, which is not a stat they track but probably should.