To many, he is an Aboriginal man who is building an online following, but he does not belong to any nation.
He has no biological ancestry and is not recognized or claimed by any Aboriginal community. No one knows his family: no mob, no elders, no aunts, uncles or cousins.
His name is ‘Jarren’ – no surname, no origin.
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 is blurring 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 contain interactions with and facts about various native fauna of Australia, including birds, reptiles and mammals.
The fictional ‘Jarren’ is the presenter and star of these ‘educational’ videos.
‘Jarren’ (and Mason) encourage viewers to subscribe to the various Bush Legend pages.
“By subscribing, you will directly support my journey and help me continue to create daily content,” Mason wrote.
“Your support will allow me to spend more time on this full-time work, researching and bringing these Australian animal stories to life.
Bush Legend has gained almost 200,000 followers on his various social pages – 92,000 on Facebook, 89,000 on Instagram and 25,000 on TikTok – with many followers believing ‘Jarren’ is real.
“He’s a natural,” one viewer commented on a video post.
‘Very worrying’: AI replaces cultural knowledge
Bush Legend appears to have originally started as a satirical news channel called Nec Minnit News, claims to be a New Zealand/Australian news channel.
Videos featuring ‘Jarren’ first appeared in December last year, with the page quickly growing in popularity to 15,000 followers.
In his page descriptions, Mason notes that his pages “use AI-generated imagery to share nature stories for education.”
But as the popularity of Bush Legend and ‘Jarren’ grows, so does the criticism.
Corey Tutt OAM, a Kamilaroi man and STEM professional and founder of Deadly Science, says the issue of AI replicating cultural knowledge and lived experiences is deeply concerning.
“Even more disturbing is the use of AI-generated images that resemble deceased people, where the technology searches for a likeness and recreates it.”
“We are also seeing a rise in non-Indigenous organisations, often dressed in black-clad branding, using AI to create cultural legitimacy,” the former NSW Young Australian of the Year said.
Damian ‘Wildman’ Duffy, a non-indigenous nature lover and nature guide living in Larrakia Country, has taken the pages of the Bush Legend to his 1.4 million followers.
“It’s a white guy using a completely fictional digital version of an Indigenous man, often painted in ceremonial paint, to create fake wildlife content and make money,” he told NITV.
“In fact, everything you see on that page is AI. Everything. The character. The wildlife. The interactions. None of it is real.”
Duffy has also raised serious safety concerns, warning that the content could encourage the public to interact with extremely dangerous and highly venomous wildlife.
“It’s a bad example for people. Both adults and children: wild animals are wild animals, they are not peaceful pets for people to play with. They should leave it to the professionals,” he said.
Dr. Terri Janke – Wuthathi, Yadhaigana and Meriam lawyer and international authority on Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP), says AI can pose real risks to First Nations people, from cultural misappropriation and exploitation to economic loss and the perpetuation of harmful or inaccurate representations.
“It takes space from real First Nations voices. It would be empowering to see real Indigenous rangers, not digital stand-ins,” she told NITV.
“Learning about the land and culture should be affirming, but when Aboriginal identity is simulated through AI without cultural respect and protocol, it becomes another way in which culture is co-opted, repackaged and exploited for attention and profit.”
Janke has previously emphasized that AI has “no dreams, no kinship, no connection to the land or cultural commitments.”
Therefore, AI cannot respect who can share certain stories, images, or language – meaning it can misrepresent sacred knowledge and disrespect cultural law.
In response to the growing criticism, Bush Legend creator Keagan Mason digitally asked ‘Jarren’ to respond to these comments.
“I’m not here to represent any culture or group and this channel is just about animal stories,” says ‘Jarren’ in one of the latest videos.
“If this isn’t your thing, don’t worry, just scroll and move on,” he says.
In denouncing the Mason’s use of AI, viewers and social media users are encouraging people to follow real-life nature and adventure content creators or the social media pages of Indigenous Rangers or Aboriginal communities.
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