Unmasking Venezuelan Victory Footage and AI Images of Maduro.
AI-generated pictures purporting to show Nicolás Maduro under arrest after his capture by the American authorities have amassed tens of millions of impressions across the internet.
How Fake Pictures of the President Emerged Soon After
The first fake AI image apparently showing him led off a aircraft circulated shortly after. The graphic was absent from any official American sources; it was instead posted on the platform X by an account describing itself as an “AI video art enthusiast”.
Verification involved an AI-watermark detector, confirming the image was generated or edited with AI tools.
Additional AI-generated images began to spread in the following period, purporting to present additional perspectives of Maduro under guard. Noticeable logos on these pictures indicate they originated from an Instagram account called ultravfx.
SynthID indicates all of these images were also generated or edited AI technology.
Real Photo Released but Fakes Persisted
The former US president shared the initial authentic image of Nicolás Maduro in handcuffs aboard the USS Iwo Jima on that morning. But even after this real photo was made public, synthetic pictures kept circulating but were updated to include the grey tracksuit worn by Maduro.
Online investigation indicate these updated fakes were first posted on the video platform by a graphic design account. Again, the AI-watermark detector found these further images were produced with AI tools.
Key Points:
- Deepfakes circulated quickly following the events of Maduro's capture.
- The first fake picture was shared on the same day on platform X.
- Detection software like Google’s SynthID were used to identify the images as inauthentic.
- Fabrications continued to spread and be updated even after the publication of real images.
- The origin of several fabricated images was linked to specific online profiles focused on AI art.
