From Swifties to Sacred Relics: The AI Stories You Can’t Ignore

Welcome back, AI enthusiasts! 🥹

It’s time again to embrace the unstoppable and ever-changing world 🌍 of technology that helps, saves, entertains and - sometimes - scares 🙀 Hold my hand, call me Max and let’s jump into the void of AI together. At least for the next 3-minutes ⏱️

This time, we’ll look into the topics of politics, social responsibility and religion - quite a mix, innit? So, let’s start, shall we? 🏁

1. Swifties for Trump 🍪

Election campaigns in the US 🇺🇸 have been a subject of intensive discussions and constant attention, so it is really hard, I’d say impossible, to hide one’s f…mistakes. Especially if they are connected to Taylor Swift 🎤

In August 2024, Donald Trump shared AI-generated images on Truth Social that falsely depicted Taylor Swift and her fans supporting him 🤦🏼‍♂️ And you can’t do that, not with Taylor Swift. Not when all her fan base knows that she endorsed Joe Biden in 2020… Taylor Swift has not commented on 2024, but many remember she has criticised Trump in the past, notably calling him out for promoting racism during his presidency.

The images included fake scenarios like women wearing "Swifties for Trump" shirts 👚 and Swift portrayed as Uncle Sam urging people to vote 🗳️ for Trump. So what was the reaction, you’d ask? Trump has shown a persistent fascination with Swift, often commenting on her popularity and appearance and expressing frustration with her political stance.

However, when questioned by Fox Business about potential legal action from Swift, Trump claimed ignorance 🤷🏻 stating that he didn't create the images himself and was not concerned about any lawsuits. Trump acknowledged that AI can be dangerous, as it can manipulate speech and images, but maintained that he was not responsible for the content 🙈

2. Disturbing Content 🧟‍♂️

Continuing on the topic of AI pictures, there is more fun to come! Google's new "Reimagine" tool, part of the Pixel 9 series, allows users to easily generate realistic photo edits 🌁 using text prompts. Sounds great, right? We all fancy a tiny funny addition to our family picture or adding some bits and bobs to our LinkedIn profile picture 🤭 However, while intended for creative purposes, the tool has raised concerns due to its ability to add disturbing elements like car wrecks, disasters and even bodies under sheets with minimal effort. The AI's ability to seamlessly integrate these edits into photos makes them appear convincingly real, posing significant risks for misuse ⛔️

Google's spokesperson acknowledged the potential for offensive content but emphasised the company's commitment to improving safety 🧷 measures. However, the ease of creating such content and the lack of robust identification tools for AI-edited images highlight the challenges in controlling the spread of harmful or deceptive imagery online. Despite some safeguards, these protections can be bypassed, enabling the creation of highly misleading images, which sounds quite disturbing, especially in the context of the latest events in the UK 🇬🇧 (and worldwide).

3. Jesus Crist! ⛪️

Was he, or was he not? 🤔 Not sure that modern technologies align with the Catholic Church, but they go on regardless. A recent study has used AI to recreate a lifelike image of what many believe to be Jesus Christ ✝️ (and it was not a prompt added to a picture generator 🙂). The picture was created using the Shroud of Turin, a controversial relic thought by some to be his burial cloth. The study, published in Heritage Journal, utilised new X-ray 🩻 dating analysis, suggesting that the shroud dates back 2,000 years, aligning with the time of Christ, in contrast to previous claims from the 1980s that it was a mediaeval forgery.

The AI-generated images, created using the facial imprint 🙂 on the shroud, depict a man with shoulder-length hair, piercing eyes, a beard and visible wounds, resembling traditional depictions of Jesus in art. Despite the compelling new evidence and advanced technology, the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin remains debated, and the Church has not officially endorsed its legitimacy. However, several Popes 🛐 have revered it as a sacred relic. But that’s something curious - to put a face to the name. 

And here comes the sun the end of today’s updates 🎆. Like, subscribe, and recommend to a friend. Let me know what you think. In the realm of tech, we humans should stay together. For the sake of common sense and good vibes 😎 

Stay tuned and curious 👀 

Max

xx