Debunking Venezuela Victory Footage and AI Images of Nicolás Maduro.
Computer-created graphics claiming to show Venezuela's president in custody following his apprehension by the US have gained tens of millions of impressions online.
How Fake Pictures of the President Surfaced Rapidly
Initial fake synthetic picture apparently displaying him led off a plane circulated shortly after. The picture was absent from any authoritative American sources; rather, it was published on X by an account purporting to be an “AI video art enthusiast”.
We’ve checked an AI-watermark detector, which found the picture was produced or modified with Google AI.
More AI-generated pictures were disseminated in the following hours, seemingly depicting more angles of the leader in custody. Visible logos on these pictures reveal they originated from an Instagram profile called ultravfx.
SynthID indicates the further pictures were also created or altered AI technology.
Real Photo Released but Fabrications Persisted
Donald Trump shared the genuine photograph of Nicolás Maduro in handcuffs aboard the USS Iwo Jima on Saturday morning. Yet following this confirmation was made public, AI-generated images kept circulating but were altered to include the grey athletic wear worn by Maduro.
Online investigation reveal the new fake images were first posted on TikTok by a digital art account. Similarly, analysis says these subsequent pictures were generated or edited AI tools.
Key Points:
- Synthetic media gained traction after the events of the president's apprehension.
- The first fake image was shared very quickly on social media.
- Tools like Google’s SynthID helped to identify the images as inauthentic.
- Fabrications continued to circulate and be updated despite the publication of real photographs.
- The origin of many fakes was traced to specific online profiles dedicated to AI art.
