Debunking Venezuelan Victory Videos and AI Images of Maduro.
Computer-created images purporting to depict Venezuela's president under arrest following his apprehension by the US have gained tens of millions of impressions online.
The Way Fake Pictures of Maduro Appeared Soon After
The first inauthentic synthetic picture seemingly showing him being escorted off a plane circulated within hours. The picture was unpublished by any authoritative American sources; rather, it was uploaded on the platform X by an account describing itself as an “enthusiast of AI-generated art”.
Our analysis used an AI-watermark detector, confirming the picture was generated or edited with Google AI.
More AI-generated images began to spread in the ensuing period, seemingly depicting different views of Maduro in custody. Visible identifying marks on these images indicate they came from an Instagram account named ultravfx.
The detection tool confirms all of these pictures were also generated or edited generative models.
Authentic Image Released but Fakes Persisted
The former US president shared the first real photo of Maduro restrained aboard the US Navy ship on Saturday morning. Yet following this confirmation was published, synthetic pictures kept circulating but were updated to show the grey athletic wear seen on Maduro.
Online investigation indicate these updated fakes were first posted on the video platform by a digital art profile. Once again, the AI-watermark detector confirms these further images were produced with AI tools.
Important Facts:
- Synthetic media spread rapidly after the events of Maduro's capture.
- The first fake picture appeared on the same day on social media.
- Tools like Google’s SynthID helped to confirm the images as synthetic.
- Fabrications persisted to spread and be updated even after the publication of real photographs.
- The source of several fakes was traced to specific online profiles dedicated to AI art.
