Exposing Venezuela Celebration Footage and AI Images of Nicolás Maduro.
AI-generated pictures claiming to portray Nicolás Maduro detained following his apprehension by the US have garnered tens of millions of views online.
How Fake Pictures of the President Emerged Rapidly
The first fake synthetic picture seemingly showing him being escorted off a plane circulated a brief time later. This image was unpublished by any authoritative government accounts; it was instead uploaded on X by an profile purporting to be an “AI video art enthusiast”.
We’ve checked the SynthID tool, which found the picture was generated or edited with generative AI.
More synthetic pictures started circulating in the ensuing hours, purporting to present different views of Maduro in custody. Noticeable logos on these images indicate they came from an Instagram profile called ultravfx.
The detection tool confirms these additional pictures were likewise created or altered Google AI.
Authentic Image Posted but Fakes Continued
The former US president released the initial authentic image of Nicolás Maduro handcuffed aboard the US Navy ship on that morning. However, despite this real photo was released, synthetic images kept circulating but were altered to include the gray sweatsuit seen on Maduro.
Digital forensics show these altered fabrications were originally uploaded on the video platform by a graphic design account. Similarly, SynthID found these subsequent pictures were created or altered generative artificial intelligence.
Main Takeaways:
- AI-generated content spread rapidly after the events of the president's apprehension.
- The first fake image appeared within hours on social media.
- Tools like Google’s SynthID were used to identify the images as synthetic.
- Fabrications persisted to circulate and evolve even after the release of real images.
- The source of many fabricated images was traced to social media accounts dedicated to graphic design.
