23-5-2023 (WASHINGTON) Markets experienced a brief ten-minute dip on Monday (May 22) after a fake image depicting an explosion at the Pentagon went viral, leading to concerns about the potential dangers posed by generative AI technology in society.
Suspected to have originated from artificial intelligence, the image quickly spread across various accounts, prompting the Pentagon to issue a statement denying the occurrence of any explosion.
At 10:09 am local time on Monday, two tweets were sent containing the image, which garnered over half a million views within a few hours. A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed the report as false, stating, “The Pentagon was not attacked today.”
The Arlington, Virginia fire department also weighed in, using social media to clarify that no explosion or incident had taken place at or near the Pentagon.
BREAKING: Explosion near Pentagon pic.twitter.com/q49yTVWhR8
— whalechart (@WhaleChart) May 22, 2023
This incident adds to a series of recent instances involving the circulation of fake images on the internet, such as false claims of former US president Donald Trump’s arrest and an image of Pope Francis wearing a puffer jacket.
The posts circulating the fake explosion image featured a picture purportedly showing a cloud of smoke near a white-fenced building. However, experts suspect the content to be generated by AI due to visual irregularities in the building’s facade and the appearance of the fence.
According to CNN, the image was shared by multiple verified Twitter accounts, including one falsely claiming an association with Bloomberg News.
Nick Waters, the justice and accountability lead for the online investigations group Bellingcat, labeled the image as “clearly AI-generated” on Twitter, highlighting discrepancies in the building’s structure and the fence’s appearance. A fact-check by Reuters also confirmed that the building in the shared image, with its white color and triangular roof structure, does not match the actual facades of the Pentagon based on available imagery from Google Street View.
Confident that this picture claiming to show an “explosion near the pentagon” is AI generated.
Check out the frontage of the building, and the way the fence melds into the crowd barriers. There’s also no other images, videos or people posting as first hand witnesses. pic.twitter.com/t1YKQabuNL
— Nick Waters (@N_Waters89) May 22, 2023
The earliest tweet featuring the Pentagon image, found by AFP, came from an account associated with promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory. However, the original source of the image remains unknown.
Emerging generative AI technologies have made it increasingly convenient for individuals without specialized skills to produce convincing images within moments, bypassing the need for programs like Photoshop.
The circulation of the fake image briefly impacted the markets, with the S&P 500 experiencing a stumble of 0.29% compared to its Friday close before recovering.
Commenting on the situation, Pat O’Hare of Briefing.com stated, “There was a dip likely related to this fake news as the (trading) machines picked up on it, but I would submit that the scope of the decline did not match the seemingly bad nature of the fake news.”
