Kvontay Devon Pringle, a 26-year-old digital creator from Mississippi, has been unmasked as the architect behind viral online stories, including one about a young boy sent home from school for wearing a skirt. The narrative, which garnered 8.2 million views on Facebook, ignited widespread debate about gender norms in schools. However, the boy, known as "Kevin," and the incident were entirely fabricated using AI-generated imagery and a fictional account.
Pringle, who operates under the alias Zaya Velour, admitted that the "Kevin" story took approximately 10 minutes to create and post. He told The Post that the virality of a story about a non-existent child highlights the increasing sophistication of AI and the difficulty for the public to discern real from artificial content. Pringle claims his fabricated posts can generate up to $17,000 per month across five Facebook accounts. While the written components are his own, he frequently employs AI to create convincing visual elements.
Describing himself as a "comedian and storyteller" rather than a "rage bait" creator, Pringle acknowledged a personal satisfaction in eliciting strong emotional responses online. His content often features fake scenarios designed to provoke strong reactions, such as a story about a woman whose "baby daddy" allegedly cut off her hair while she slept, or another about police arriving to arrest a grandfather who had passed away, only to be handed an urn. Pringle's success in creating these "digital stories" has led him to sideline his former carpet cleaning business.
The inspiration for the "Kevin" story reportedly stemmed from Pringle's own experiences with bullying in school, where he was called homophobic slurs, combined with accounts from friends with transgender children facing discrimination. The post, which was initially shared without an AI disclosure, was picked up by some news outlets and even drew a strong reaction from rapper Boosie Badazz on X (formerly Twitter).
Pringle recently added an AI tag to the "Kevin" post, stating that while he understands people might feel deceived, his content is not created with the intention to harm. He views AI as another tool in his creative arsenal, akin to the fictional nature of movies and reality television, enabling creators to visualize ideas more effectively. He also instructs nearly 100 students on content creation techniques through an online community on the platform Skool.