Debunking Venezuelan Victory Footage and AI-Generated Pictures of Nicolás Maduro.
Synthetic graphics claiming to portray Venezuela's president under arrest following his apprehension by the US have amassed countless of views on social media.
How Fake Pictures of the President Emerged Rapidly
Initial inauthentic AI image apparently displaying him taken off a plane emerged a brief time later. This image was unpublished by any official American sources; rather, it was published on the platform X by an account purporting to be an “AI video art enthusiast”.
We’ve checked an AI-watermark detector, determining the image was produced or modified with generative AI.
Further synthetic visuals started circulating in the ensuing hours, purporting to present different views of the leader detained. Discernible logos on these pictures show they came from an Instagram profile called ultravfx.
The detection tool says the further images were similarly produced using AI technology.
Real Photo Posted but Fakes Continued
The former US president posted the genuine photograph of Nicolás Maduro handcuffed aboard the US Navy ship on Saturday morning. But even after the authentic image was published, synthetic images persisted online but were altered to show the grey tracksuit worn by Maduro.
Digital forensics show the new fake images were originally uploaded on TikTok by a digital art account. Again, analysis says the new graphics were created or altered generative artificial intelligence.
Key Points:
- Deepfakes circulated quickly after the news of Maduro's capture.
- The initial fabricated image appeared on the same day on platform X.
- Detection software like Google’s SynthID were used to confirm the images as AI-generated.
- Fake images persisted to spread and be updated despite the release of authentic photographs.
- The origin of many fabricated images was linked to specific online profiles dedicated to AI art.
