Exposing Venezuelan Victory Videos and AI Images of Nicolás Maduro.
Synthetic pictures purporting to depict Venezuela's president in custody after his apprehension by the US have gained many millions of views on social media.
The Way Fake Pictures of the President Emerged Rapidly
The first fake synthetic picture seemingly displaying him led off a plane emerged a brief time later. This image was not shared any authoritative US channels; rather, it was uploaded on X by an account describing itself as an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.
Our analysis used an AI-watermark detector, which found the image was created or altered with AI tools.
More synthetic pictures started circulating in the ensuing period, seemingly depicting more angles of the leader under guard. Noticeable identifying marks on these pictures indicate they came from an Instagram account named ultravfx.
AI analysis confirms all of these pictures were also generated or edited generative models.
Authentic Image Posted but Fakes Persisted
Donald Trump released the first real photo of Nicolás Maduro restrained aboard the US Navy ship on Saturday morning. Yet following the authentic image was made public, synthetic pictures persisted online but were altered to show the grey tracksuit worn by Maduro.
Online investigation indicate these altered fabrications were initially shared on the video platform by a digital art profile. Once again, the AI-watermark detector found the new graphics were generated or edited Google AI.
Main Takeaways:
- Deepfakes circulated quickly following the news of the president's apprehension.
- The first fake image was shared very quickly on platform X.
- Detection software like Google’s SynthID helped to identify the pictures as AI-generated.
- Fake images persisted to circulate and be updated despite the release of real images.
- The origin of many fabricated images was linked to specific online accounts dedicated to graphic design.
