AI FAKES INFLAME US SHOOTING ROW

'HALLUCINATED' CONTENT AFTER MAJOR NEWS EVENTS PLAYS GROWING ROLE IN SHAPING DEBATE.

- STORY: BILL MCCARTHY / AFP

Hours after a fatal shooting in Minneapolis by an immigration agent, AI deepfakes of the victim and the shooter flooded online platforms, underscoring the growing prevalence of what experts call "hallucinated" content after major news events.

The victim of Wednesday's shooting, identified as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, was hit at pointblank range as she apparently tried to drive away from masked agents who were crowding around her Honda SUV.

AFP found dozens of posts across social media platforms, primarily the Elon Musk-owned X, in which users shared AI-generated images purporting to "unmask" the agent from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

"We need his name," Claude Taylor, who heads the anti-Trump political action committee Mad Dog, wrote in a post on X featuring the AI images. The post racked up more than 1.3 million views.

Mr Taylor later claimed he deleted the post after he "learned it was AI", but it was still visible to online users.

An authentic clip of the shooting, replayed by multiple media outlets, does not show any of the ICE agents with their masks off.