Grok image checks mislocate photos

While internet users turn to AI to verify images, the tech has limits, writes AFP

- 

An image by AFP photojournalist Omar al-Qattaa shows a skeletal, underfed girl in Gaza, where Israel’s blockade has fuelled fears of mass famine in the Palestinian territory.

But when social media users asked Grok where it came from, X boss Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot was certain that the photograph was taken in Yemen nearly seven years ago.

The AI bot’s untrue response was widely shared online and a left-wing pro-Palestinian French lawmaker, Aymeric Caron, was accused of peddling disinformation on the Israel-Hamas war for posting the photo.

At a time when internet users are turning to AI to verify images more and more, the furore shows the risks of trusting tools like Grok, when the technology is far from error-free.

Grok said the photo showed Amal Hussain, a seven-year-old Yemeni child, in October 2018.