The alarming image, portraying smoke billowing from the iconic building, was disseminated by numerous accounts, including a Russian state-owned media channel.
RT, with over 3 Million followers, has posted (since deleted) what looks to be an Artificialย Intelligenceย (AI) generated photo of an explosion near the Pentagon pic.twitter.com/6Bl7X8ZA2M
โ Leonardo Puglisi (@Leo_Puglisi6) May 22, 2023
Interestingly, reports of the false Pentagon explosion likewise made its way onto non-official Twitter accounts with blue verification checkmarks, further amplifying the confusion and the impact of the falsehoodโhighlighting both the importance of rigorous source verification likewise as the unsurprising result of Elon Muskโs new criteria for account verification.
This morning blue check accounts accounts claimed large explosions at the Pentagon.
โฆ then the White House.
Russian state media amplified the faked Pentagon image from their gold check account.
The images look Artificialย Intelligenceย (AI) generated, as folks identified. 1/ pic.twitter.com/Bd9uu3jwPZ
โ John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) May 22, 2023
As the photo went viral, Unitedย States stock indexes took a minor hit, although markets quickly recovered after the photo was exposed as a hoax. Bitcoin, the leading digitalย currency, likewise experienced a brief โflash crashโ following the spread of the fake news, slipping to $26500. Still, Bitcoinย (BTC) is slowly but undoubtedly recovering and it is asย ofย now being traded at $26,882, reportsย by CoinGecko.
The hoaxโs impact was wholeย lotย of enough to prompt the Arlington County Fire Department to intervene. โ Thereย is NO explosion or incident occurring at or near the Pentagon reservation,โ they tweeted โand thereย is no immediate danger or hazards to the public.โ
@PFPAOfficial and the ACFD are aware of a social media report circulating online about an explosion near the Pentagon. Thereย is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and thereย is no immediate danger or hazards to the public. pic.twitter.com/uznY0s7deL
โ Arlington Fire & EMS (@ArlingtonVaFD) May 22, 2023
Paving the Road to More Artificialย Intelligenceย (AI) Regulation
This type of online deceit has raised serious concerns between critics of unmitigated Artificialย Intelligenceย (AI) development. Numerous specialists in the field have warned that advanced Artificialย Intelligenceย (AI) systems could become tools for malevolent actors worldwide, spreading misinformation and causing online pandemonium.
This isnโt the 1st time such trickery has emerged. Viral AI-generated images have previously deceived the public, such as images of Pope Francis sporting a Balenciaga jacket, a fake arrest of President Donald Trump, and deepfakes of celebrities like Elon Musk or SBF promoting cryptocurrency scams.
Notable personalities have likewise sounded alarms about the spread of disinformation.
Hundreds of tech specialists already wasย known for a six- 30ย days halt on advanced Artificialย Intelligenceย (AI) development until proper safety guidelines are established. And even Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, broadly known as the โGodfather of AIโ, even resigned from his role at Google to voice his concerns about potential Artificialย Intelligenceย (AI) dangers without damaging his previous employerโs reputation.
Episodes of misinformation like this one feed into the ongoing debate surrounding the need for a regulatory and ethical framework for Artificialย Intelligenceย (AI). As Artificialย Intelligenceย (AI) becomes an increasingly potent tool in the hands of agents of disinformation, the consequences can be chaotic.ย
Accordingย to todayโs events, one question stands out: What if an Artificialย Intelligenceย (AI) was the agent using the power of social media to spread chaos and control the financial markets? We kind of saw it coming.
