Scottish People Use AI to Trick Tourists Into Thinking Haggis is a Real Animal
Haggis is as Scottish as tartan and ginger hair. But many foreigners are clueless as to what haggis actually is and Scots are using AI images to fill in the blanks.
The myth of “wild haggis” predates artificial intelligence: canny Scots have been playfully misleading tourists for years pretending that haggis is a small, furry creative that roams around the Scottish Highlands.
In the myth, a haggis is said to resemble a cross between a rodent and a bird. The story goes that the wild haggis has legs of unequal length, which allows it to run effortlessly around the steep hills and mountains of Scotland—always in one direction.
The joke has gone so far that there’s even a wild haggis on display at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum. A mischievous TikToker visited the museum, “Here he is, the wee critter that looks like Celine Dion. Look at that hair.”
@eddiefadewalker Here’s what a wild haggis looks like! It’s totally real!! It’s in a museum and everything!!!! #scottish #scottishtiktok #scotland #haggis #wildhaggis #scottishculture #scottishjokes #glasgow #kelvingrovemuseum ♬ Scottish Bagpipe Music – bluepanda
“So if you’ve never seen a wild haggis before this is what they look like. As you can see it is legit. It’s in a museum amongst all the other animals,” jokes the TikToker called Eddie.
But now the “Haggis Wildlife Foundation” is using AI to keep the joke alive by generating synthetic pictures of haggis. It has gone so far as to create an online presence, including a YouTube channel where an AI David Attenborough narrates fake documentaries about the wild haggis.
The jokes have fooled more than a handful of people online. A viral Reddit post from two years ago demanding to know if haggis is real received predictably hilarious answers.
“Yes, though very hard to find in the wild,” writes one person. “I live in the Highlands and am lucky enough to spend a lot of time outdoors,” adds another joker. “I’ve only ever seen two haggi in the wild. Overhunting and destruction of their natural habitat is a real problem.”
What Actually is Haggis?
As Scots have a good laugh at the expense of oblivious foreigners, haggis is in fact a hearty, savory pudding. Traditionally, it’s made by finely mincing sheep’s offal (heart, liver, and lungs), mixing it with oats, suet, spices, and onions, then boiling it inside a sheep’s stomach. Although modern casings are now more common.
That traditional form of haggis has been banned in the United States since 1971 due to food safety regulations that prohibit one key ingredient: sheep lung. The U.S. Department of Agriculture considers sheep lungs unfit for human consumption because during slaughter, fluids like stomach acid and phlegm could enter the lungs, posing a potential health risk.
There are calls from Scottish government officials and food advocates to revisit the ban argue, they modern slaughtering techniques make sheep lungs safe. But for now, haggis-seeking Americans must make do with other offal that doesn’t include sheep lung. However, purists insist it’s not the same.
Image credits: Haggis Wildlife Foundation
