From Vancouver Sun
‘This can only get worse’: Who's behind the fake AI-generated images of B.C. wildfires?
By Glenda Luyumes
An AI-generated image showing a wall of flames advancing toward an Okanagan highway was shared 239 times on Facebook before the B.C. Wildfire Service drew attention to the fake this week.
The image, which appeared on several social media platforms, accompanied a post about the Drought Hill fire near Peachland by someone called Joemar Sombero, who posts content about fires, earthquakes and other natural phenomenon with AI-generated images that seem intended to inspire awe and dread...
Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who focuses on digital forensics and misinformation, said someone might post fake images for several reasons, including “simple and unapologetic trolling,” as well as the monetary incentive to create viral content.
“I don’t know exactly why people do this, but it is sadly predictable” he said. “During each natural disaster, we see a spread of fake content, most recently in the Texas floods, and before that in the Southern California wildfires...”
Hany Farid is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences and the School of Information at UC Berkeley
