AI’s blind spot

The image of Co, whose whereabouts have been unknown since the official probe began, appeared to show him in Portugal.

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When online sleuths tracking him asked Google’s new AI mode whether the image was real, it incorrectly said it was authentic.

AFP's fact-checkers tracked down its creator and determined that the image was generated using Google AI.

"These models are trained primarily on language patterns and lack the specialized visual understanding needed to accurately identify AI-generated or manipulated imagery," Alon Yamin, chief executive of AI content detection platform Copyleaks, told AFP.

"With AI chatbots, even when an image originates from a similar generative model, the chatbot often provides inconsistent or overly generalized assessments, making them unreliable for tasks like fact-checking or verifying authenticity."

Google did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.

‘Distinguishable from reality’

AFP found similar examples of AI tools failing to verify their own creations.