Exposing Venezuelan Victory Footage and AI-Generated Pictures of Maduro.
Synthetic images purporting to depict Venezuela's president under arrest following his capture by the US have garnered many millions of impressions across the internet.
The Way AI Images of the President Appeared Within Hours
Initial fake AI image apparently displaying him led off a plane emerged within hours. The picture was not shared any official US channels; it was instead uploaded on X by an profile purporting to be an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.
Verification involved the SynthID tool, determining the picture was produced or modified with AI tools.
Further synthetic pictures were disseminated in the following period, seemingly depicting different views of the leader under guard. Visible logos on these pictures indicate they were posted by an Instagram profile called ultravfx.
The detection tool indicates all of these images were also produced using AI technology.
Real Photo Released but Fabrications Persisted
Donald Trump posted the initial authentic image of Maduro in handcuffs aboard the US Navy ship on that morning. However, despite this confirmation was released, synthetic pictures kept circulating but were modified to include the grey athletic wear seen on Maduro.
Online investigation reveal these updated fakes were originally uploaded on TikTok by a digital art account. Similarly, SynthID confirms these further images were generated or edited generative artificial intelligence.
Key Points:
- AI-generated content spread rapidly after the news of the president's apprehension.
- The first fake image was shared very quickly on platform X.
- Tools like AI-watermark detectors were used to confirm the images as AI-generated.
- Fabrications continued to circulate and be updated despite the release of authentic images.
- The source of many fakes was traced to social media profiles focused on AI art.
