It’s the ultra-realistic, technology-driven social media – with ‘paparazzi’ photos of celebrities that are often assumed to be real.
Many people are shocked and somewhat disturbed to discover that images they think are real are actually created by a computer.
AI-generated images have exploded in recent months, whether in celebrities reimagined as retirees or entire exhibitions devoted to computer artworks – much to the ire of human artists.
But can you tell the difference between what is real and what is fake?
Take the MailOnline quiz to see if you can tell which photos are real and which are AI-generated…
1. Donald Trump arrested
In this image, former United States President Donald Trump looks like he is trying to run away while being arrested by police officers
2. Elon Musk is dating the CEO of a rival motorcycle company
One image appears to show Tesla CEO Elon Musk holding hands with rival General Motors CEO Mary Barra
3. Supermodel Bella Hadid becomes a bald robot
Supermodel Bella Hadid, 26, poses as a bald robot in a futuristic image – with metal piping appearing to emerge from her back
4. Pope Francis opts for an oversized puffer jacket
In this image, 86-year-old Pope Francis changes his style and instead of the usual robe, opts for a white, oversized puffer jacket
5. Britney Spears’ floating necklace
Paris Hilton poses in a snap with Britney Spears and Cade Hudson, making Spears’ necklace appear to be attached to only one chain
6. Tom Cruise and his stunt doubles
In this photo, actor Tom Cruise, known for his action movie roles, poses with his stunt doubles
7. Rita Ora’s reptilian face
In the next photo, pop star Rita Ora appears to have skin-colored reptilian features on her face
8. Meta-CEO Mark Zuckerberg walks the catwalk
Meta-CEO Mark Zuckerberg parades down the catwalk wearing a pink glitter bomber jacket and matching trousers, paired with pink trainers, a black under jacket and sunglasses
9. Billionaire Elon Musk as a toddler
Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk is pictured as a toddler wearing a white shirt under brown pants with suspenders attached
10. Mugshot of former President Donald Trump
Former United States President Donald Trump poses for a mugshot, holding a postage stamp that reads ‘Fulton County Sheriff’s Office’
Answers
Which one did you get right?
1. This photo is fake! An AI-generated image of Donald Trump trying to run away while being arrested by police was posted to Twitter in March with the caption: “Taking pictures of Trump being arrested while waiting for Trump to be arrested.”
2. This photo is fake! This image of Tesla CEO Elon Musk holding hands with Mary Barra, the CEO of rival car company General Motors, was generated by AI. After the image was posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, as a “breaking” story, Musk responded that he would “never wear that outfit.”
3. This photo is real! Supermodel Bella Hadid was transformed into a bald robot for a futuristic fashion campaign for designer Marc Jacobs. In this photo, Hadid poses nude and bare, with only a sculptural silver ear cuff with metal piping wrapped around her. The fashion company’s Heaven by Marc Jacobs fall ’23 campaign was shot by Carlijn Jacobs and styled by Danielle Emerson.
4. This photo is fake! An image of Pope Francis donning a white puffer jacket instead of the usual robe circulated on social media, but while many people believed it was real, it was in fact AI-generated. The viral image was created by Pablo Xavier, a 31-year-old man from Chicago, who used Midjourney, an artificial intelligence image generator.
5. This photo is real! After Paris Hilton posted a photo of herself, Britney Spears and Cade Hudson on Instagram, she had to refute theories that the image was fake. Fans were convinced of this because Britney’s necklace appeared to float with just one chain. In a follow-up comment “to anyone who asks,” Paris said the photo was taken on the iPhone which made it look blurry and then edited in an app called Remini to correct that, but that the AI sometimes “distorts the images.” “I didn’t even want to dignify this with a response,” she added. “But some of these conspiracy theories are absolutely ridiculous.”
6. This photo is fake! Despite being known for playing characters performing daring acts in action films, this photo of Tom Cruise and his stunt doubles is an AI-generated image. Cruise does all his own stunts.
7. This photo is real! On the red carpet for the 2022 British Fashion Awards, singer Rita Ora wore striking reptilian facial prosthetics that closely reflected her skin tone, as well as bleached eyebrows.
8. This photo is fake! Many were surprised to see that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had made the transition to runway modeling, but an image circulating on social media of the tech boss walking the runway in a glittery pink outfit was in fact AI-generated, with using the Midjourney image generator. .
9. This photo is fake! An image of Elon Musk as a toddler in brown overalls made waves on social media, but instead of coming from the billionaire’s family archives, it was actually generated by AI. The photo was captioned, “Elon Musk was reportedly working on an anti-aging formula, but things got out of hand,” which warranted a response from Musk himself: “Guys, I think I may have taken too much.”
10. This photo is real! To the shock of many on social media, the mugshot of Donald Trump released by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office on August 24 was real. Trump was photographed for the police mugshot after his arrest.