Exposing Venezuela Victory Footage and AI-Generated Pictures of Nicolás Maduro.
Synthetic pictures purporting to depict Nicolás Maduro in custody after his apprehension by the United States have gained many millions of views on social media.
The Way Fake Pictures of the President Appeared Within Hours
Initial fabricated synthetic picture apparently displaying him led off a plane surfaced within hours. This image was unpublished by any verified American sources; it was instead posted on X by an profile describing itself as an “AI video art enthusiast”.
Our analysis used Google’s SynthID, confirming the image was produced or modified with Google AI.
Further synthetic images began to spread in the following period, purporting to present more angles of the leader detained. Discernible logos on these pictures indicate they originated from an Instagram profile called ultravfx.
The detection tool says the further pictures were also produced using generative models.
Authentic Image Posted but Fakes Continued
The former US president posted the genuine photograph of Nicolás Maduro in handcuffs aboard the USS Iwo Jima on Saturday morning. Yet following this real photo was released, AI-generated images continued to spread but were updated to include the gray sweatsuit seen on Maduro.
Reverse image searches show these altered fabrications were initially shared on the video platform by a digital art account. Once again, SynthID says these subsequent pictures were generated or edited generative artificial intelligence.
Important Facts:
- Synthetic media gained traction following the news of Maduro's capture.
- The first fake picture was shared very quickly on social media.
- Tools like AI-watermark detectors helped to identify the images as AI-generated.
- Fake images continued to spread and evolve despite the publication of authentic photographs.
- The origin of many fakes was linked to specific online accounts focused on graphic design.