As Israel and Iran trade blows in a quickly escalating conflict that risks engulfing the rest of the region as well as a more direct confrontation between Iran and the U.S., social media is being flooded with AI-generated media that claims to show the devastation, but is fake.
The fake videos and images show how generative AI has already become a staple of modern conflict. On one end, AI-generated content of unknown origin is filling the void created by state-sanctioned media blackouts with misinformation, and on the other end, the leaders of these countries are sharing AI-generated slop to spread the oldest forms of xenophobia and propaganda.
If you want to follow a war as it’s happening, it’s easier than ever. Telegram channels post live streams of bombing raids as they happen and much of the footage trickles up to X, TikTok, and other social media platforms. There’s more footage of conflict than there’s ever been, but a lot of it is fake.
A few days ago, Iranian news outlets reported that Iran’s military had shot down three F-35s. Israel denied it happened. As the claim spread so did supposed images of the downed jet. In one, a massive version of the jet smolders on the ground next to a town. The cockpit dwarfs the nearby buildings and tiny people mill around the downed jet like Lilliputians surrounding Gulliver.
It’s a fake, an obvious one, but thousands of people shared it online. Another image of the supposedly downed jet showed it crashed in a field somewhere in the middle of the night. Its wings were gone and its afterburner still glowed hot. This was also a fake.
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Slopaganda
Using AI as a propaganda machine? Who could possibly have guessed that would happen!?
This is why ai was nothing like the invention of internet or TV. Humans cannot handle the amount of bad that ai will bring. It will not be a net positive.
Just saw the image without reading the title and my first thought was “that’s fake”… either that or that F-35 is piloted by a giant.
Something about a “stealth” fighter jet being the size of a stadium is absolutely hilarious.
If someone saw a crashed plane and assumed it was a Boring instead of AI slop, the mistake is understandable.
So it turns out that Iranian air-defenses were even weaker then reported, and their massive response after launching 400+ missiles, was 9 confirmed hits. Meanwhile the latest threat about a memorable strike was wishcasting by the supreme leader.
What a joke. Iran will be the regional whipping boy until the regime changes, or the US collapses. Not sure which will happen first.
