Unmasking Venezuela Victory Videos and AI Images of Maduro.

AI-generated pictures claiming to portray Nicolás Maduro under arrest following his apprehension by the American authorities have garnered tens of millions of impressions online.

The Way Fake Pictures of Maduro Surfaced Within Hours

The first inauthentic synthetic picture apparently showing him taken off a plane emerged within hours. The picture was absent from any official government accounts; rather, it was posted on X by an profile describing itself as an “AI video art enthusiast”.

Verification involved Google’s SynthID, which found the image was produced or modified with generative AI.

Further AI-generated images began to spread in the following period, appearing to show different views of the leader under guard. Visible watermarks on these images reveal they came from an Instagram account named ultravfx.

The detection tool indicates the further images were also generated or edited generative models.

Real Photo Posted but Fakes Persisted

The former US president posted the initial authentic image of Maduro restrained aboard the US Navy ship on that morning. But even after this real photo was released, synthetic images persisted online but were modified to incorporate the grey tracksuit worn by Maduro.

Online investigation reveal these updated fakes were first posted on TikTok by a graphic design account. Again, the AI-watermark detector confirms the new graphics were created or altered Google AI.

Key Points:

• Synthetic media gained traction following the announcement of the president's apprehension.
• The initial fabricated picture was shared on the same day on platform X.
• Tools like AI-watermark detectors helped to confirm the images as synthetic.
• Fabrications continued to spread and evolve even after the release of real photographs.
• The origin of many fabricated images was traced to social media profiles dedicated to AI art.