Debunking Venezuelan Victory Footage and AI Images of Nicolás Maduro.
Synthetic pictures claiming to portray Nicolás Maduro detained following his apprehension by the US have gained many millions of impressions on social media.
How Fake Pictures of Maduro Appeared Soon After
Initial fake synthetic picture seemingly displaying him led off a plane emerged shortly after. The picture was unpublished by any official American sources; it was instead uploaded on X by an account describing itself as an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.
Verification involved an AI-watermark detector, determining the picture was produced or modified with generative AI.
Additional AI-generated visuals were disseminated in the following hours, seemingly depicting more angles of the leader detained. Visible identifying marks on these pictures reveal they originated from an Instagram account called ultravfx.
The detection tool indicates the further pictures were also created or altered AI technology.
Real Photo Released but Fakes Persisted
Donald Trump shared the initial authentic image of Nicolás Maduro restrained aboard the USS Iwo Jima on Saturday morning. However, despite the authentic image was published, AI-generated pictures continued to spread but were modified to incorporate the grey athletic wear seen on Maduro.
Digital forensics show these altered fabrications were originally uploaded on the video platform by a digital art account. Once again, SynthID confirms these subsequent pictures were created or altered AI tools.
Key Points:
- Deepfakes circulated quickly following the news of the president's apprehension.
- The initial fabricated image appeared very quickly on platform X.
- Detection software like AI-watermark detectors were used to identify the images as synthetic.
- Fabrications continued to spread and evolve even after the publication of real images.
- The source of several fabricated images was traced to specific online accounts focused on graphic design.
