White House shares AI-manipulated image of alleged anti-ICE protesterpublished at 10:29 GMT
10:29 GMT
Thomas Copeland
BBC Verify Live journalist
An image of a woman arrested by US authorities and shared by the White House, external has been edited using artificial intelligence, experts have told BBC Verify.
The AI-manipulated image was shared about 30 minutes after the original was posted by US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, external.
In the original picture posted by Noem the woman appears to be expressionless but in the later, AI-manipulated image, she is shown to be crying. The White House’s post on X has now gathered almost five million views.
Hany Farid, a computer science professor at the University of California and founder of GetReal Security, told BBC Verify it was “not the first time the White House has shared AI-manipulated or AI-generated content”.
The woman in the picture, Nekima Levy Armstrong, was arrested for allegedly organising a demonstration that disrupted a church service in Minnesota last Sunday, external where a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement official is a pastor.
When we asked the White House to comment on the image they directed us to an X post by deputy communications director Kaelan Dorr.
“Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue. Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Dorr wrote, external.
Farid said the White House’s use of AI-generated content is “troubling on several levels”.
“Not only are they sharing deceptive content, they are making it increasingly more difficult for the public to trust anything they share with us.”