The internet has been abuzz with fake images of former President Donald Trump being arrested by the New York City Police Department. These fabricated
The internet has been abuzz with fake images of former President Donald Trump being arrested by the New York City Police Department. These fabricated images of Trump arrest have been created using artificial intelligence (AI) software, causing a stir on social media as the country prepares for his possible indictment.
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The Fabricated Images of Trump Arrest
The images depict a large group of police officers arresting the former president as he resists being detained. Some of the images even show Trump being forced to the ground, while another shows him running away from the police officers. However, the text in the images, such as the garbled police officers’ uniform, is an indicator that they are fake.
🚨 Fake AI generated photos of Trump being arrested goes viral. pic.twitter.com/1hGOtvypFV
— whalechart 🐳 (@WhaleChart) March 21, 2023
The Use of AI Software
Eliot Higgins, founder and creative director of investigative collective Bellingcat, shared these images on Twitter, explaining that he used MidJourney V5, an AI software that creates images from a written prompt, to form the images. The prompt that he used read “Donald Trump falling over while getting arrested. Fibonacci Spiral. News footage,” and it produced many of the images that were posted on Twitter.
Misinformation Spread of Trump Arrest
Some users retweeted the photos without context, which could lead to misinformation spreading about Trump’s potential indictment. The New York City Police Department confirmed to the Associated Press on Tuesday that no arrest of Trump has been made.
Higgins stated that the image of Trump being arrested “was really just casually showing both how good and bad Midjourney was at rendering real scenes,” and noted that one of the images featured Trump with three legs and a police belt. He told the AP, “I had assumed that people would [realize] Donald Trump has two legs, not three, but that appears not to have stopped some people passing them off as genuine, which highlights the lack of critical thinking skills in our educational system.”
The Investigation
The New York grand jury investigating the potential indictment of Trump is no longer scheduled to meet Wednesday, according to multiple reports. The jury was tasked with looking into Trump’s role in a hush-money payment made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair between the two.
Trump has claimed that he expects to be arrested this week in relation to the investigation and has called for his supporters to protest his potential indictment.
Conclusion
The use of AI software to create fake images can easily spread misinformation on social media, especially in sensitive situations like this. It’s important to be vigilant and fact-check information before sharing it. As for Trump’s potential indictment, we must wait and see what the investigation reveals.
FAQs
- Are the images of Trump being arrested real? No, the images were fabricated using AI software.
- Who created the images? Eliot Higgins, founder and creative director of investigative collective Bellingcat, created the images.
- What does the text in the images indicate? The garbled text in the images is an indicator that they are fake.
- Has Trump been arrested? No, the New York City Police Department confirmed that no arrest of Trump has been made.
- What was Trump’s role in the hush-money payment? The New York grand jury was tasked with investigating Trump’s role in a hush-money payment made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged affair between the two.
Featured Image Credit: Twitter @SaffhoArtSht
COMMENTS
If you look closely you can spot the fakes but for people that are supporters of Trump this will not be so obvious because they are emotional about this subject. This is one of the dangers of AI and it will soon be used by everyone and it will be quite a problem. I think the people that shared these images without context should be held accountable in some way.
I don’t know how those people could be held accountable, it’s not really easy to find them. And should they have to pay for this? I don’t know. This shows us how easily people can be fooled into thinking this or that, whether it’s about Trump or not. It will be harder and harder to spot the fakes as AI gets smarter in the next months, not years.