Unmasking Venezuelan Victory Videos and AI-Generated Pictures of Maduro.
Synthetic images claiming to portray Nicolás Maduro in custody after his capture by the American authorities have gained countless of impressions on social media.
The Way Fake Pictures of the President Appeared Rapidly
Initial fabricated synthetic picture seemingly showing him led off a aircraft emerged within hours. This image was unpublished by any authoritative American sources; rather, it was uploaded on the platform X by an profile purporting to be an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.
Verification involved an AI-watermark detector, determining the image was generated or edited with Google AI.
Additional AI-generated visuals started circulating in the ensuing period, purporting to present different views of the leader under guard. Discernible logos on these pictures indicate they were posted by an Instagram profile called ultravfx.
AI analysis says all of these images were similarly generated or edited generative models.
Real Photo Released but Fabrications Persisted
Donald Trump released the initial authentic image of Nicolás Maduro restrained aboard the US Navy ship on that morning. However, despite this real photo was released, AI-generated images kept circulating but were modified to include the gray sweatsuit worn by Maduro.
Online investigation show these altered fabrications were first posted on the video platform by a digital art account. Similarly, the AI-watermark detector says these subsequent pictures were generated or edited Google AI.
Key Points:
- AI-generated content spread rapidly following the announcement of the president's apprehension.
- The initial fabricated image was shared very quickly on platform X.
- Tools like Google’s SynthID were used to verify the images as AI-generated.
- Fabrications persisted to spread and be updated despite the release of real photographs.
- The source of many fakes was traced to social media accounts focused on graphic design.
