AI-Generated Photo of Elderly Couple Sparks Outrage in France

The truth behind a disturbing photograph that appeared to show an elderly couple being stripped and robbed by rioters in France has been revealed. The image, which circulated widely on social media, appeared to show an elderly man and woman in their underwear surrounded by several men dressed entirely in black, wearing face coverings. The truth about the disturbing post An AI-generated image of an elderly couple during the Paris riots.

Credit: X Unsurprisingly, it attracted almost six million views on X and was shared by multiple police unions as France experienced a wave of violent unrest over the weekend, after over 500,000 people took to the streets of Paris to protest cost of living issues and an underfunded, failing education system. However, closer examination revealed several glaring inconsistencies in the photograph, while Google's SynthID Detector indicated that it had been created using AI, with French media reports also suggesting the image was produced using the technology. Among the most obvious errors, two apparent rioters seemed to share the same pair of legs, while the elderly woman's hand appeared to be missing a finger.

Elsewhere in the image, two faces in the background appeared to have merged together, while another person seemed to be missing their lower body entirely. Analysis using specialist detection software also identified an invisible watermark associated with generative AI, suggesting the photograph had either been created or altered using the technology. AI verification confirms AI use The original version circulating online was linked to Google's Gemini AI system, while a supposedly clearer variation was associated with OpenAI's technology, with both images reportedly containing an invisible watermark known as SynthID, which is designed to help identify content generated by AI.