Direction and Editing Seemed Over the Top... Most Photos of Trump and Black People Are 'AI Photos'

Former President Donald Trump is being shown in numerous photos smiling brightly with Black people. However, most of these photos are fake. They are images created by Trump supporters using generative artificial intelligence (AI), seemingly as an attempt to appeal to voters of color, including Black and Hispanic communities.

British broadcaster BBC recently reported that a warning has been issued about fake AI images circulating on American social media platforms. As an example of AI-generated images, BBC posted a photo showing former President Trump smiling with his arm around Black individuals. This photo is believed to have been created by Trump supporters.

AI images spread on social networking services (SNS)
[Image source=BBC capture]

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With the presidential election approaching and both the Democratic and Republican parties holding candidate primaries, the United States has recently been struggling with AI-generated images. Some images have been manipulated to show candidates being taken away in police cars to slander opponents, while others stage fake scenarios to create a favorable impression.

In the case of former President Trump, he is known to have low popularity among minority voters such as Black and Hispanic communities. Because of this, it appears that supporters are creating and spreading images of "Trump socializing with Black people."

Mark Kay, a conservative American radio host who shared related images, said, "These photos are not actually taken of real events," but added, "Donald Trump attended a party with all African American voters. Look at how much they love Trump."

He also told BBC, "I am not trying to use these images as propaganda," but questioned, "If AI images influence election results, isn't that a personal issue?"

AI image uploaded on X last year.
[Image source=X]

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In the past, fake images targeting former President Trump circulated in the opposite direction. In March last year, a citizen journalist named Elliott Higgins used AI to create and spread an image of Trump being arrested. The image received 4.17 million views in just one day.

At the time, netizens both in Korea and abroad expressed concern. One overseas netizen said, "I was shocked because I thought it was real," and added, "If AI images become more sophisticated than this, watermarking should be mandatory."

These concerns seem to be gradually becoming reality. Comparing AI-generated images from a year ago to those created recently, it is clear that realism has significantly improved in terms of human body and face reproduction, color, and light expression.

In this regard, the American political media outlet The Hill warned, "The advancement of AI inevitably leads to concerns about how AI will be used in politics."

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