A Russian citizen residing in Cuba, known on social media as Poli, posted yesterday a video on Instagram to refute those who accuse her of being an artificial intelligence, asserting that she is a real person who learned Spanish on the street.
"Oli, I'm Poli, a Russian living in Cuba. Yesterday I saw a comment saying that I am A, I, and A, but I am neither I, A, nor A, nor TRD, nor CDR. I'm just a normal person, Russian," she stated in the 52-second clip posted on her account under the name 'My name is Poli.'
In the video, Poli also denies being an account linked to the Cuban foreign exchange shops or to the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, two institutions of the regime that generate distrust among social media users on the island.
To demonstrate her authenticity, the influencer spoke in Russian and English as well as in Spanish, and explained how she acquired the language: "I learned Spanish with you all on the street, with my family, with my husband."
In Russian, he added: "I can speak Russian, it's just that you cannot and will not understand," making it clear that his proficiency in several languages is sufficient proof that he is not an artificially generated profile.
The video's description summarizes her stance with a straightforward phrase: "I don't need AI to be the CUBAN rusita".
Skepticism about his account arose days after Poli went viral by revealing that he named his newborn daughter Apagonia, in reference to the chronic blackouts that Cuba suffers.
According to what was explained in that video, both the conception and the birth of the girl coincided with power outages on the island: "When she was conceived, the power went out. And when she was born, the power went out." That clip reached 241,000 views and sparked a wide debate on social media.
The name Apagonia is part of a trend of popular humor in Cuba where jokes circulate about giving babies names like Blackout, Generator, or Fuse, referring to the energy crisis that subjects Cubans to power outages of up to twenty hours a day.
Poli is part of a Russian community in Cuba that exceeds 3,500 people, of which around 2,500 are Russian citizens, with historical roots dating back to the Soviet era.
His sudden fame also attracted the skepticism typical of the Cuban digital ecosystem, where distrust towards social media accounts is high and accusations of content generated by artificial intelligence are becoming increasingly common.
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