The Truth Behind the Viral AI-Generated Photo of Pope Francis in a Puffer Coat

An AI-generated image of Pope Francis wearing a white puffer jacket fooled social media users into thinking it was real. The image was created by an AI program called Midjourney and circulated on platforms like Twitter, receiving hundreds of thousands of likes. AI expert Henry Ajder pointed out telltale signs that the image was fake, including inconsistencies in the rendering of the hand holding the coffee cup and the pope's glasses. Ajder warned that AI-generated fake news reports and images of politicians can be very convincing and called for guidelines to promote responsible AI use.