The photo of Pope Francis dressed in a flashy white down jacket and an almost rap-style crucifix is going around the planet. And he had all it takes to go viral: over the top, with a famous person... and false. Yet millions judged it to be true. “Thanks” to the artificial intelligence that generated the image.
Now, as the echoes of laughter subside (the definition "Monclero" was simply brilliant) the experts' concerns are growing.
The deceptive art of AI
The Pope photo was created using midjourney, an AI program that generates photorealistic images based on simple textual descriptions. The fake image first appeared on the social network Reddit, on a page dedicated to art generated by artificial intelligence, and then went viral on Twitter.
You know it well: Midjourney is not the only tool out there. Also GIVE HER OpenAI (the same as ChatGPT) and Stable Diffusion offer similar functionality. The experts' concern concerns the accessibility and ease of use of these tools, which can create false images in a few seconds and without the need for specific skills.
Today the Pope, and tomorrow?
Henry Ajder, an expert in artificial intelligence, notes how this technology has developed at “lightning speed” over the past year, and shows no signs of slowing down. Actually.
While AI-generated fake images still have visible flaws, such as the Pope's "glitched" hand in the photo or the blurry quality of the hair in the equally viral (and fake) photos of an arrested Trump, these imperfections could be eliminated within a matter of a few months.
It will always be difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish real photos from fake ones. When ordinary, non-famous people are "altered" (for which denial is easy) what will happen?
The consequences are around the corner
False images could have serious consequences if used on people who, unlike the Pope, have no resources to stop their spread. They could be used to frame individuals, blackmail or humiliate them, or even to distort political processes.
The real side effect, however, is the possibility that these fake images lead people to doubt the reality of the authentic images. “If everything is valid, nothing is valid”. Daily news, images of natural disasters, war crimes: nothing would have informative value anymore, everything would be perceived as false. And if you count how many images of this type there will be within a few years, you will understand the extreme gravity of the situation.
The Pope forgives, I don't
Remember to be skeptical, and always check your sources. It is the only way to avoid falling into the trap of false images created by AI. Even if these images reinforce your beliefs, they are not necessarily true.
And be honest, too: passing off fakes as real will cause damage: the Pope will forgive you, I wouldn't.
