Debunking Venezuelan Celebration Videos and AI-Generated Pictures of Maduro.

Synthetic pictures purporting to portray Venezuela's president in custody following his apprehension by the United States have amassed many millions of impressions on social media.

The Way AI Images of the President Emerged Soon After

The first fake synthetic picture seemingly displaying him taken off a plane emerged a brief time later. The picture was unpublished by any authoritative government accounts; rather, it was published on the platform X by an profile describing itself as an “AI video art enthusiast”.

Verification involved an AI-watermark detector, confirming the picture was produced or modified with AI tools.

Additional AI-generated pictures were disseminated in the following period, purporting to present additional perspectives of Maduro detained. Noticeable identifying marks on the graphics indicate they came from an Instagram account named ultravfx.

SynthID says the further images were similarly produced using Google AI.

Real Photo Posted but Fakes Persisted

Donald Trump shared the genuine photograph of Nicolás Maduro in handcuffs aboard the USS Iwo Jima on Saturday morning. Yet following this real photo was published, synthetic pictures persisted online but were updated to include the grey tracksuit worn by Maduro.

Digital forensics reveal these altered fabrications were first posted on TikTok by a graphic design profile. Again, analysis found these subsequent pictures were generated or edited AI tools.

Important Facts:

• AI-generated content circulated quickly after the news of the president's apprehension.
• The first fake image appeared very quickly on platform X.
• Tools like AI-watermark detectors helped to verify the pictures as synthetic.
• Fabrications continued to spread and be updated even after the release of authentic photographs.
• The origin of several fabricated images was traced to specific online profiles focused on graphic design.