Debunking Venezuela Victory Videos and AI Images of Nicolás Maduro.
Synthetic images claiming to portray Venezuela's president detained following his apprehension by the American authorities have amassed many millions of impressions on social media.
The Way Fake Pictures of the President Surfaced Rapidly
The first fake synthetic picture seemingly displaying him taken off a aircraft circulated a brief time later. The graphic was absent from any verified US channels; rather, it was uploaded on X by an account describing itself as an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.
Verification involved an AI-watermark detector, determining the picture was produced or modified with generative AI.
More synthetic images started circulating in the subsequent hours, purporting to present different views of the leader under guard. Discernible logos on these pictures reveal they originated from an Instagram profile named ultravfx.
SynthID confirms all of these images were also created or altered Google AI.
Real Photo Released but Fabrications Persisted
Donald Trump shared the genuine photograph of Nicolás Maduro restrained aboard the US Navy ship on that morning. Yet following this real photo was released, synthetic pictures persisted online but were altered to show the grey tracksuit worn by Maduro.
Online investigation show these altered fabrications were originally uploaded on the video platform by a graphic design account. Again, SynthID confirms these further images were generated or edited generative artificial intelligence.
Important Facts:
- AI-generated content circulated quickly following the events of the president's apprehension.
- The initial fabricated image appeared within hours on social media.
- Tools like AI-watermark detectors were used to confirm the images as synthetic.
- Fabrications continued to circulate and be updated even after the release of real photographs.
- The origin of many fabricated images was linked to specific online accounts dedicated to graphic design.
