Unmasking Venezuela Victory Videos and AI Images of Nicolás Maduro.
AI-generated images purporting to portray Venezuela's president detained following his apprehension by the United States have garnered countless of views on social media.
How Fake Pictures of the President Appeared Rapidly
Initial fabricated synthetic picture seemingly showing him led off a plane emerged shortly after. The picture was unpublished by any official US channels; rather, it was published on X by an account purporting to be an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.
Our analysis used Google’s SynthID, which found the image was created or altered with Google AI.
More AI-generated visuals were disseminated in the subsequent period, appearing to show more angles of the leader in custody. Visible watermarks on the graphics show they were posted by an Instagram profile called ultravfx.
AI analysis confirms the further pictures were similarly created or altered AI technology.
Real Photo Posted but Fabrications Continued
The former US president released the genuine photograph of Maduro in handcuffs aboard the USS Iwo Jima on that morning. However, despite this confirmation was published, AI-generated images kept circulating but were updated to show the gray sweatsuit seen on Maduro.
Reverse image searches reveal these updated fakes were initially shared on TikTok by a digital art profile. Once again, the AI-watermark detector confirms these further images were generated or edited AI tools.
Key Points:
- Synthetic media spread rapidly after the news of the president's apprehension.
- The first fake picture appeared within hours on platform X.
- Detection software like Google’s SynthID helped to identify the images as synthetic.
- Fake images persisted to circulate and evolve even after the publication of real photographs.
- The source of many fakes was traced to specific online accounts dedicated to graphic design.
