Exposing Venezuelan Victory Footage and AI-Generated Pictures of Nicolás Maduro.
AI-generated graphics purporting to show Nicolás Maduro in custody following his capture by the United States have garnered countless of impressions on social media.
The Way Fake Pictures of Maduro Surfaced Rapidly
The first fake AI image apparently displaying him led off a aircraft circulated within hours. The graphic was unpublished by any official government accounts; it was instead posted on X by an account describing itself as an “AI video art enthusiast”.
Verification involved an AI-watermark detector, determining the picture was generated or edited with Google AI.
More AI-generated pictures started circulating in the following hours, seemingly depicting more angles of the leader detained. Discernible watermarks on these images show they originated from an Instagram account named ultravfx.
The detection tool confirms all of these pictures were similarly produced using generative models.
Real Photo Released but Fakes Persisted
Donald Trump posted the first real photo of Nicolás Maduro restrained aboard the USS Iwo Jima on that morning. Yet following this real photo was made public, synthetic images kept circulating but were modified to include the grey athletic wear worn by Maduro.
Online investigation indicate the new fake images were initially shared on TikTok by a digital art profile. Once again, the AI-watermark detector confirms these subsequent pictures were produced with AI tools.
Main Takeaways:
- Deepfakes spread rapidly following the news of Maduro's capture.
- The first fake picture was shared on the same day on platform X.
- Tools like Google’s SynthID were used to identify the pictures as AI-generated.
- Fabrications continued to circulate and evolve even after the publication of authentic images.
- The source of several fabricated images was traced to specific online profiles focused on AI art.