Fact Check: Viral Photo Showing Farmers Protesting At Eiffel Tower Is AI-Generated

New Delhi/Vishvas News: A photo circulating on social media depicting hay bales and tractors in front of the Eiffel Tower amid the ongoing farmers’ protest in France has gone viral. Several users are sharing this image, believing it to accurately portray the current situation of the farmers’ struggle in France.

However, Vishvas News, in its investigation, has found this claim to be misleading. The viral image is not authentic but rather artificially generated using AI. Despite its artificial origin, users are sharing it under the mistaken belief that it depicts real events.

What’s Going Viral?

Social media user (archive link) ‘Thakur Singh Sandhu Saab’ has captioned the viral picture in Punjabi while sharing it. The Hindi translation of the caption reads: “पंजाब की जट्ट कबीला ने अपनी जट्ट कबीला दुनिया में जीने के तरीके सिखाए हैं। अन्यथा, पहले सभी लोग सरकार के खिलाफ एकजुट नहीं होते।”.

The caption suggests that the Jatt community in Punjab has taught their global counterparts the methods of struggle. It implies that this unity against the government was not possible earlier. The image purportedly depicts the Jatt community in Paris (France) fighting for their rights. Numerous other users have also shared this picture with identical claims.

Vishvas News Investigation:

We used Google Reverse Image search to know about the origin of the viral picture. During our investigation, we encountered the viral image in numerous locations. Notably, on February 4, 2024, Forbes published a news piece elucidating that the image circulating on social media was generated using an AI tool.

Furthermore, during our search, we stumbled upon a viral picture shared by an X (formerly Twitter) user named Russian Market on February 3, 2024, which was also identified as AI-generated. The photo has been credited to ifonly.ai, a platform known for sharing AI-generated images.

Our exploration of ifonly.ai’s Instagram revealed multiple AI-generated images shared by the platform. Digging deeper into ifonly.ai (archive link), we discovered that its art director is Vincent Smadja. Vincent, as evidenced by his LinkedIn post, explicitly stated that the picture in question was created using an AI tool, urging users to mention its AI origin when sharing.

Taking our investigation forward, we employed a tool to check pictures created with AI. According to Isitai, the probability of the image in question being AI-generated is approximately 66.22 per cent.

We also reached out to AI expert Amar Sinha, who affirmed that the picture was indeed AI-generated. Although AI-generated images may appear authentic, they often possess imperfections that can betray their artificial origins. Finally, we examined the profile of the user who shared the post. The user has over 4,000 followers and is a resident of Dubai, as mentioned in his profile description.