Unmasking Venezuela Celebration Videos and AI-Generated Pictures of Nicolás Maduro.
Synthetic images claiming to show Venezuela's president under arrest after his capture by the US have garnered tens of millions of views on social media.
The Way Fake Pictures of the President Emerged Soon After
Initial inauthentic AI image seemingly showing him being escorted off a aircraft surfaced a brief time later. This image was absent from any official US channels; it was instead published on X by an profile describing itself as an “AI video art enthusiast”.
Our analysis used an AI-watermark detector, which found the image was generated or edited with Google AI.
More AI-generated images were disseminated in the ensuing hours, seemingly depicting different views of the leader in custody. Visible watermarks on these pictures reveal they were posted by an Instagram account called ultravfx.
The detection tool says all of these pictures were likewise produced using AI technology.
Real Photo Posted but Fakes Continued
Donald Trump posted the genuine photograph of Maduro handcuffed aboard the USS Iwo Jima on that morning. Yet following the authentic image was released, synthetic pictures continued to spread but were modified to include the grey athletic wear worn by Maduro.
Reverse image searches show these updated fakes were first posted on TikTok by a graphic design account. Again, analysis says these further images were produced with AI tools.
Main Takeaways:
- AI-generated content spread rapidly after the announcement of Maduro's capture.
- The initial fabricated picture appeared on the same day on platform X.
- Detection software like Google’s SynthID were used to confirm the pictures as synthetic.
- Fake images persisted to circulate and evolve even after the release of real images.
- The source of many fabricated images was traced to social media accounts focused on graphic design.
