Unmasking Venezuela Victory Videos and AI Images of Maduro.
Computer-created graphics claiming to depict Venezuela's president in custody following his apprehension by the US have garnered many millions of views across the internet.
How AI Images of the President Surfaced Soon After
The first inauthentic synthetic picture seemingly displaying him being escorted off a aircraft emerged a brief time later. The graphic was unpublished by any verified American sources; it was instead uploaded on the platform X by an profile describing itself as an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.
Verification involved the SynthID tool, determining the picture was generated or edited with AI tools.
Further AI-generated visuals began to spread in the subsequent hours, appearing to show different views of Maduro in custody. Discernible logos on these pictures reveal they came from an Instagram profile named ultravfx.
AI analysis indicates all of these images were also created or altered Google AI.
Real Photo Posted but Fakes Persisted
Donald Trump posted the genuine photograph of Maduro handcuffed aboard the USS Iwo Jima on Saturday morning. Yet following this confirmation was made public, synthetic pictures persisted online but were modified to incorporate the grey tracksuit worn by Maduro.
Digital forensics reveal the new fake images were initially shared on the video platform by a graphic design profile. Again, analysis says these further images were produced with Google AI.
Key Points:
- Deepfakes spread rapidly following the events of Maduro's capture.
- The initial fabricated image was shared very quickly on social media.
- Tools like Google’s SynthID helped to identify the images as synthetic.
- Fake images continued to spread and be updated even after the release of real images.
- The source of many fabricated images was traced to social media profiles focused on AI art.
