A supposedly AI-generated image purporting to show an explosion near the Pentagon went viral on Twitter on Monday, sending markets crashing.
Dozens of verified accounts — including national news organizations — shared again what shows black smoke rising from the ground next to a white building.
The image seems so realistic that people went crazy when it circulated on the platform around 10 a.m. ET, sending the S&P 500 down 10 points in five minutes as the image went viral.
The Arlington Fire Department quickly debunked the event, stating that “there is no explosion or incident occurring in or near the Pentagon Reserve.”
It stems from fears about the power of artificial technology in spreading misinformation, particularly in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.
Dozens of verified accounts, such as WarMonitors, BloombergFeed and RT, passed the photo showing black smoke rising from the ground next to a white building
The Pentagon deputy officer told DailyMail.com, “We have no comment other than to confirm that it is false.”
The Kobeissi lettera source covering global capital markets tweeted about the image an hour after it went viral.
With multiple news sources reporting it as real, the S&P 500 fell 30 points in minutes. This resulted in a market cap of $500 billion on a fake statue,” The Kobeissi Letter tweeted.
While some Twitter users blamed advanced AI technology for the fake image, others pointed it out accounts quickly retweeting the photo without researching its authenticity.
Former Army personnel and Bellingcat journalist Nick Waters tweeted how he could tell the image was fake.
“Convinced that this photo purporting to show an ‘explosion near the Pentagon’ is AI generated,” Waters wrote.
‘Look at the facade of the building and the way the fence merges into the crush barriers. There are also no other images, videos, or people posting as firsthand witnesses.
‘When an event like this takes place, it affects a large number of people. Apart from the fact that this photo is clearly AI-generated, it is immediately possible to identify this as fake through geolocation and social media searches.”
Twitterer Walter Bloomberg, who has more than 653,000 followers, was one of the first to tweet about the image.
However, he just tweeted, “Large explosion near the Pentagon complex in Washington DC – First report.”
Former Army personnel and Bellingcat journalist Nick Waters tweeted how he could tell the image was fake. He pointed out how the front fencing merged with the crush barriers – some drawing software designed the picture, which also caused the market to fall back briefly
However, Russia-owned RT also posted the image on its Twitter account, captioning that an explosion had occurred.
The publication has since deleted the tweet.
The AI-generated calamity comes as people demand more regulation over the technology and fear it will destroy humanity and spread misinformation.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, spoke before Congress last week, spending five hours answering questions about how to control the technology that could potentially gain self-mastery.
And in March, Elon Musk and more than 1,000 other technology leaders signed an open letter calling for AI development to be halted for at least six months so that analysis can be conducted.
Twitterer Walter Bloomberg, who has more than 653,000 followers, was one of the first to tweet about the image
Russia-owned RT also posted the image on its Twitter account, captioning it as a blast. The publication has since deleted the tweet
This would be possible if AI reaches singularity, a hypothetical future where technology surpasses human intelligence and changes the path of our evolution – and this is expected to happen in 2045. AI should first pass the Turing test.
If so, the technology is believed to have independent intelligence, allowing it to replicate itself into an even more powerful system that humans cannot control.
Kevin Baragona was one of more than 1,000 leading experts to sign an open letter to The Future of Life Institute calling for a pause in the “dangerous race” to develop ChatGPT-like AI.
Like the invention of the atomic bomb in the 1940s, Baragona told DailyMail.com that “AI superintelligence is like the nukes of software.”
“A lot of people have debated whether or not we should keep developing them,” he continued.
Americans grappled with a similar idea as they developed the weapon of mass destruction – dubbed “nuclear fear” at the time.
“It’s almost like a war between chimpanzees and humans,” Baragona, who signed the letter, told DailyMail.com
“The humans win, of course, because we are much smarter and can use more advanced technology to beat them.
“If we’re like the chimpanzees, the AI will either destroy us or we’ll become addicted to it.”