2 minutes

HE “COOL” POPE

In early 2023, an image of Pope Francis went viral on the internet. It showed the pontiff wearing a white “puffed” jacket, in a style quite different from his usual. The image is fake. It was generated by the artificial intelligence platform Midjourney, but it set social media buzzing and puzzling. 

BEHIND FAKE BARS 

Former US President Donald Trump was all over X (formerly Twitter) and other social media channels, when a series of photos of him being arrested by New York City police officers hit the internet. Thousands of users got fooled. The images were AI-generated, created amid news that Trump was facing criminal charges. 

One possible benefit of AI interacting with human creativity is that it can enhance and augment human creative potential. 

EYES ON THE PRIZE 

Can an AI generated image win a photography contest? It can. Berlin-based German photographer Boris Eldagsen deliberately submitted a DALL·E 2-created image to the Sony World Photography Awards, one of photography’s most prestigious competitions – and won. Boris Eldagsen refused to accept the prize after revealing that the photo had been created using an artificial intelligence image generator. The photographer hoped to “drive debate” about a technology that is poised to alter how photorealist imagery is defined and understood. 

AI ON MY SLEEVE 

Global musicians Drake and The Weeknd had their voices replicated by artificial intelligence, without their consent, to create a new song. Heart on My Sleeve was created by musical artist Ghostwriter, who upload it to streaming services – and it soon went viral. The fake duet was even submitted to the Grammy Awards, but it was not considered eligible. After complaints made by the two musicians and Universal Music Group, the song was taken down by the streaming services over copyright issues.