RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – A fake, AI-generated image of Pope Francis in a white puffer jacket and bejewelled crucifix has gone viral with people mistaking it for real.
BuzzFeed News says the man behind it is a 31-year-old construction worker from the Chicago area, who told them he was tripping on magic mushrooms when he came up with the idea for the image.
He posted them to the Facebook group AI Art Universe, and then on Reddit. He was shocked when the images quickly went viral. “I was just blown away,” he said. “I didn’t want it to blow up like that.”
Journalist Ryan Broderick posted on Twitter that there was something particular about the pope’s image that lends credence to the fake.
“My theory as to why it’s fooling so many (myself initially included) is that the pope aesthetically exists in the same uncanny valley as most AI art”.