Have you seen a photo on social media recently of what appears to be a man wearing 1980s-style clothing smoking a cigarette at McDonald’s? The image has gone viral, with over 21 million views as of this writing. But this is completely false. This image was created using generative artificial intelligence.
The photo, which features a man with long curly brown hair and a mustache, immediately caught people’s attention when it was first posted to X. Tuesday. The man appeared to be smoking and a puff of smoke was emitted, which is allowed in some McDonald’s locations. 20th Century Before clean indoor air laws became the norm.
But if you look closely at the photo, you’ll see some clear signs that his “photo” was created using artificial intelligence. First, just look at your fingers and hands. Did you notice how long this guy’s left hand is, without any visible wrist? It looks like his arms have just transformed into impossibly long fingers.
Next, let’s take a look at the text in the picture. The red cup on the table appears to be the AI trying to imitate the Coca-Cola brand, which is nonsense. While McDonald’s iconic golden arches look accurate on boxes of french fries, McDonald’s french fries packaging is usually primarily red rather than yellow. It also looks like a straw sticking out of the container. I’ve never tried eating chips with a straw, but I thought it would be a difficult task.
The man behind the main character of the “photo” looks even more distorted, his hands look strange and his face looks strange. The men’s hats in the background also look like an attempt at 2000s shirt styles and bucket hats, which puts the protagonist in an even more confusing situation.
What does the word in the upper right corner say? We only have partial letters, but it appears to read “Modlidani” in a shape similar to the McDonald’s logo.
Last but not least, check the condition of your main subject’s shirt. The man was wearing a denim vest that appeared to be shirtless, but the sleeves looked like a white T-shirt. This doesn’t make much sense.
Apparently, the reason this image went viral is that it speaks to something about a past that no longer exists, whether it’s a guy with that haircut or just someone who smoked. Smoking in public places was once the norm, but smoking was gradually banned in the United States over a decades-long process to protect public health. Many states first established “smoking” and “non-smoking” areas in restaurants in the late 20th century, and then banned smoking entirely in most indoor spaces by the early 21st century.There is still one few states Some venues allow smoking indoors, but this is becoming less and less common every year.
If you saw this image in your feed and didn’t immediately register it as AI, you’re not alone. I debunk images often and when I saw it on the X for the first time yesterday I didn’t even give it a second thought. But it may be telling that low-stakes images don’t receive as much scrutiny when they go viral on social media platforms.
Frank J. Fleming, a former writer for the conservative news satirical website The Babylon Bee, pointed out on X how many people fail to be vigilant when it comes to sharing fake smoking pictures.
“This is a very interesting case of people being fooled by AI images because the risk is so low. There are a lot of obvious signs that this is AI, but most people will miss them because they are not part of the focus of the image and because This is not a situation where you think someone is going to cheat on you, so you have no reason to analyze it so closely,” Fleming write on X.
I’m reminded of the viral image of Pope Francis wearing 2023 dabai down jacket, another example of people being quick to believe it might be real, just because it wasn’t considered that important, but still interesting. Who cares if the Pope wears a cool jacket? Well, if this were just a case of material excess or fashion consciousness from a character who was supposed to be above worldly concerns, a lot of people would be like that.
What we can be sure of is that this won’t be the last viral fake image created using generative AI. As the U.S. presidential election approaches, more powerful images are bound to make the rounds.
correct: An earlier version of this article said the fake McDonald’s in the sign in the upper right corner appeared to read “Moldidani.” In fact, it looks like Modly Dani. Gizmodo regrets this error and will strive to do better in the future.