Khaberni - Circulated images on social media alleging to show Jeffrey Epstein "alive" in Tel Aviv have sparked global controversy in recent hours, between those who believed the story, and those who confirmed it as fake and generated by artificial intelligence.
In detail, the images show a man with a thick beard, long hair, and sunglasses, surrounded by guards on a street with Hebrew signs indicating "Tel Aviv".
They spread quickly, with comparisons to Epstein's features, and garnered millions of views on platforms X and Instagram, amidst belief and skepticism.
In an investigation performed by some media outlets, it was revealed that the basic image had in its bottom right a Gemini logo, an artificial intelligence model developed by Google, and it was recognized by Google as being produced by Google AI.
The Lebanese newspaper "Al-Nahar" stated that "according to the technical analysis of this image by Gemini, it was concluded that most of it, or large parts of it, were created or modified using Google's AI tools, where the digital watermark SynthID was detected embedded in it."
It pointed to "some visual indicators that support this, like blurry details in the background, and some minor distortions in the features of the surrounding people, which are often traits that appear in technologically-generated images".
Similarly, the examination of the image on specialized sites for detecting falsification, such as Hive Google and Hive Moderation, led to a similar result. "It likely includes content generated by artificial intelligence or by deepfake technology at a rate of 88%".
In turn, the DeepFake-O-Meter tool provided by the University of Buffalo, detected a forgery rate of 95.28%, and a photo forgery detection tool at 44.54%.
Despite this, some activists on social media who support conspiracy theories insisted that the image might be real.
It is notable that the American billionaire businessman of Jewish origin, Jeffrey Epstein, died mysteriously inside his prison in the United States.
The U.S. judiciary announced that the death was due to suicide, but what stirred doubts about Epstein's death initially, were reports about a strange car entering the prison on the night of the death and Epstein being transferred inside it on a wheelchair.
The spread of this image on social media comes at a time when the U.S. authorities recently revealed millions of documents special to his case, which involved a scandal that implicated politicians and celebrities from various countries around the world.
