AI-generated images of celebrities are fooling people

Several Internet users falling for AI-generated images depicting famous people in unusual situations in the past few weeks has highlighted the need for people to double-check online information before accepting it as fact.

Recently, several photos posted online showing Pope Francis in a large white puffer coat had the Internet abuzz over the religious leader’s ostensible modern fashion taste.

Last week, rumours of the imminent arrest of Donald Trump saw a series of images appearing online depicting the former US president being chased and apprehended by police officers.

Images showing billionaire Elon Musk hand-in-hand with a new partner — Democrat politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — have also floated around Twitter in the past few days, accompanied by a caption claiming that the unlikely pair are in a relationship.

All these images have one thing in common — they aren’t real.

Although they look natural, they were created using generative models trained using machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence (AI).

While photo editing tools like Photoshop have allowed people to create manipulated images, powerful AI generators like Dall-E and Midjourney can mock up realistic-looking pictures in a matter of seconds.

That has made it much easier to create convincing fake images and post them on the web to draw clicks.

AI tool creators are working on ways to clamp down on abuse of the tools for malicious intent, but there are several ways to identify if one of these images might be AI-generated.

Firstly, you should closely scrutinise the pictures for any strange anomalies — like nonsensical text, blurred or strange-looking faces, or unusual textures.

One area of focus should be the subject’s hands, something which even well-trained AI is notorious for getting wrong. A word of warning, however — the latest version of Midjourney performs much better in this area than before.

AI image generators are also expected to improve significantly in the coming years, so these “red flags” might become less obvious or disappear entirely over time.

If there appears to be nothing strange in the picture, but it still sets of alarms because how unlikely it is (like arch-rivals being in a relationship) searching through articles from multiple reputable news outlets and fake news debunking websites like Snopes.com might also help confirm the authenticity of the photos.

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