Image shared to depict floods in Chattogram was AI-generated
Journalist Anis Alamgir recently made a post from his verified profile regarding the recent flood in Chattogram which included an image of the flooding. However, a fact-check by Dismislab found that the image was generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
In a recent Facebook post, Anis Alamgir wrote that he was deeply distressed after seeing images of the flooding in Chattogram. He attached a photograph showing people traveling by boat through a flooded area where houses are partially submerged. In the background, several hills and part of a bridge appear to be underwater, with boats passing over the submerged section.
As of writing the report, the post was shared more than 100 times and has received over 4,500 reactions. One commenter wrote, “Distributing relief to flood-affected areas was far more important than distributing family cards.”
An analysis of the comments shows that some users criticized the government, while others criticized Professor Muhammad Yunus, the former chief adviser to the interim government. Some commenters also suggested following the disaster response measures implemented during the tenure of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina or the now-banned political party Awami League.
The same image has also been posted by multiple social media users with identical captions (1, 2, 3).
The image was analyzed using several AI content detection tools, including Hive Moderation (99.9%) and AI or Not (70%), both of which indicated a high likelihood that it was generated using AI.
For further verification, Dismislab examined the image using SynthID, Google’s AI content detection tool. The tool indicated that the image had been created or edited using Google’s AI tools. A subsequent review of SynthID’s heatmap confirmed that nearly the entire image had been generated or modified by AI.
In the comments on the original post, one user asked where the photograph had been taken. In response, Anis Alamgir stated that it was an AI-generated symbolic image. However, nowhere in the original post was the image identified as AI-generated or symbolic.
In other words, the post about the floods in Chattogram used an AI-generated image.
All social media captions, quotations, and news excerpts in this article have been translated into English from the languages in which they were originally posted or published.
