Exposing Venezuela Victory Footage and AI Images of Nicolás Maduro.
AI-generated images purporting to portray Nicolás Maduro under arrest following his capture by the American authorities have gained tens of millions of views across the internet.
How Fake Pictures of the President Surfaced Within Hours
The first fake synthetic picture seemingly displaying him being escorted off a aircraft emerged a brief time later. The picture was unpublished by any official American sources; rather, it was published on X by an profile describing itself as an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.
Our analysis used the SynthID tool, determining the picture was created or altered with AI tools.
Additional synthetic images began to spread in the subsequent hours, seemingly depicting more angles of the leader detained. Discernible watermarks on these pictures indicate they were posted by an Instagram profile named ultravfx.
The detection tool indicates these additional images were likewise produced using AI technology.
Real Photo Posted but Fabrications Persisted
Donald Trump released the genuine photograph of Nicolás Maduro handcuffed aboard the USS Iwo Jima on Saturday morning. However, despite this real photo was made public, AI-generated pictures kept circulating but were updated to include the grey athletic wear seen on Maduro.
Reverse image searches reveal these updated fakes were originally uploaded on TikTok by a graphic design account. Again, SynthID found these further images were produced with Google AI.
Main Takeaways:
- Synthetic media spread rapidly following the announcement of Maduro's capture.
- The initial fabricated image appeared on the same day on platform X.
- Tools like AI-watermark detectors were used to identify the images as AI-generated.
- Fabrications persisted to spread and evolve even after the release of real photographs.
- The source of many fakes was traced to specific online profiles dedicated to graphic design.
