Facebook Page Uses AI-Generated Image of Disabled Veteran to Farm Engagement

An image, posted this week to a Facebook page called “Summer Vibes,” shows a smiling young woman with brunette hair. She’s dressed in Army fatigues — although, quizzically, she’s not wearing pants, and the mangled American flag patch on the arm of her jacket has only six stripes and zero stars. She’s white. She’s conventionally attractive. And crucially, this grinning young woman is seated in a wheelchair, implying that she’s an injured or disabled veteran. “Please don’t swip [sic] up without giving some love,” reads the image’s garbled caption. “Without heroes,we [sic] are all plain people,and [sic] don’t know how far we can go.” The caption is then followed by a string of hashtags listing the names of famous actresses like Anne Hathaway, Megan Fox, and Jennifer Lopez (as well as Christian Bale and Chris Evans, for some reason.) Needless to say, the woman isn’t real. She’s AI-generated, and to many, that’s obvious. In addition to the woefully incorrect American flag tacked onto the uniform, the last name that would normally appear on a soldier’s pocket is an illegible clump of blobs that, when zoomed out, gives off only the semblance of lettering. Her teeth, eyes, and ears are also blurry and uncanny, as are her poorly defined hands. And yet, despite these obvious flaws, the image has gone viral: at present, it has more than 62,000 reactions, nearly 5,000 comments, and 2,500 shares. And judging by the comments section? A lot of folks — particularly older men — absolutely…Facebook Page Uses AI-Generated Image of Disabled Veteran to Farm Engagement

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