Unmasking Venezuela Victory Videos and AI-Generated Pictures of Nicolás Maduro.
Computer-created pictures claiming to portray Venezuela's president in custody following his apprehension by the American authorities have gained tens of millions of impressions on social media.
The Way Fake Pictures of Maduro Surfaced Rapidly
The first inauthentic AI image seemingly displaying him being escorted off a plane surfaced a brief time later. The picture was not shared any authoritative American sources; it was instead uploaded on the platform X by an account describing itself as an “AI video art enthusiast”.
Verification involved Google’s SynthID, which found the picture was produced or modified with AI tools.
Additional synthetic visuals were disseminated in the ensuing period, appearing to show additional perspectives of Maduro under guard. Visible identifying marks on the graphics show they came from an Instagram profile called ultravfx.
SynthID says all of these images were similarly produced using Google AI.
Real Photo Posted but Fakes Persisted
The former US president released the first real photo of Nicolás Maduro restrained aboard the US Navy ship on that morning. However, despite this real photo was released, synthetic images kept circulating but were modified to include the grey athletic wear seen on Maduro.
Reverse image searches show the new fake images were initially shared on the video platform by a graphic design profile. Again, SynthID says these further images were created or altered AI tools.
Important Facts:
- Deepfakes circulated quickly after the events of the president's apprehension.
- The first fake picture was shared very quickly on social media.
- Tools like Google’s SynthID were used to verify the images as inauthentic.
- Fake images continued to circulate and evolve despite the publication of real images.
- The source of several fabricated images was linked to social media accounts focused on AI art.
