Exposing Venezuelan Celebration Footage and AI-Generated Pictures of Nicolás Maduro.
AI-generated images claiming to depict Venezuela's president detained after his capture by the United States have garnered many millions of views across the internet.
The Way Fake Pictures of the President Appeared Rapidly
The first fake AI image seemingly displaying him being escorted off a aircraft emerged within hours. This image was unpublished by any authoritative government accounts; it was instead posted on the platform X by an account purporting to be an “AI video art enthusiast”.
Verification involved Google’s SynthID, confirming the picture was generated or edited with generative AI.
More synthetic images started circulating in the following period, purporting to present more angles of the leader detained. Discernible identifying marks on these images indicate they came from an Instagram profile called ultravfx.
The detection tool says these additional pictures were likewise generated or edited generative models.
Authentic Image Released but Fabrications Continued
The former US president posted the initial authentic image of Maduro handcuffed aboard the US Navy ship on Saturday morning. But even after this confirmation was published, synthetic images persisted online but were altered to include the grey athletic wear seen on Maduro.
Online investigation show the new fake images were originally uploaded on the video platform by a graphic design account. Once again, SynthID confirms the new graphics were produced with generative artificial intelligence.
Main Takeaways:
- Deepfakes spread rapidly after the announcement of Maduro's capture.
- The first fake picture was shared very quickly on platform X.
- Tools like AI-watermark detectors helped to verify the images as synthetic.
- Fabrications persisted to circulate and evolve despite the publication of authentic photographs.
- The source of several fakes was traced to social media accounts focused on AI art.
