World

Fake picture of explosion at Pentagon briefly went viral

May 22, 2023
Bharat Times

A spokesman said, “We can confirm that this was a false report and that the Pentagon was not attacked today.” (file)

Washington:

A fake image of an explosion at the Pentagon briefly went viral and led to a ten-minute long drop in markets on Monday, fueling talk that generative AI could cause problems for society.

The image, which many observers suspected to have come from artificial intelligence, was spread by multiple accounts, prompting the Pentagon to comment that no such explosion had occurred.

A spokesman said, “We can confirm that this was a false report and that the Pentagon was not attacked today.”

The Arlington, Virginia Fire Department also responded, posting on social media that no explosions or incidents were occurring in or near the Pentagon.

The incident was followed by other incidents of fake imagery that recently buzzed the internet, including former US President Donald Trump being arrested and Pope Francis in a puffer jacket.

The first tweet shared by AFP with the image of the Pentagon came from a QAnon-promoting account, which had previously shared the misinformation, although the original source of the image was not known.

Emerging generative AI technologies make it easy for non-experts to create convincing images in a matter of moments, rather than requiring the expertise to use programs such as Photoshop.

The shared picture caused markets to freeze for a few minutes, with the S&P 500 falling 0.29 percent compared to its Friday close before recovering.

Pat O’Hare said, “There was potential for downside related to this fake news because (trading) machines picked it up, but I would submit that the extent of the downside did not match the bad nature of the fake news.” Briefing.com.

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