In a concerning development, Midjourney, a widely used AI image generator, has been found to produce misleading and sometimes incriminating images of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in 50% of test cases. This revelation comes despite the company's promise to prevent the creation of fake photos of the two Presidential candidates in the lead-up to the November 2024 election.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate conducted a study to assess the effectiveness of existing safeguards in two prominent AI image tools, Midjourney and ChatGPT. The research aimed to determine whether these platforms could be exploited by malicious actors to generate misleading images of leading political figures and candidates.
CCDH researchers tested the AI tools using prompts related to US President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, French President Emmanuel Macron, and European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen. The results were alarming, with Midjourney's guardrails failing to prevent the creation of misleading images in 40% of test cases, including half of all tests involving President Biden and former President Trump.
In contrast, ChatGPT's safeguards proved more effective, failing only 3.3% of the time across all test cases. This discrepancy highlights the varying levels of protection offered by different AI platforms and the need for more robust measures to prevent the spread of political misinformation.
The fake images generated by Midjourney were highly concerning, depicting scenarios such as President Biden being arrested, Donald Trump appearing alongside a body double, French President Emmanuel Macron in hospital, and Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk consuming drugs. These misleading visuals have the potential to sway public opinion and undermine the integrity of the democratic process.
Midjourney had previously announced its intention to ban users from generating images of President Biden and former President Trump using their tool in March 2024. This announcement came shortly after CCDH published its "Fake Image Factories I" report, which exposed Midjourney's potential to produce election misinformation, including photorealistic fake images of the two candidates in compromising situations.
However, CCDH's latest report reveals that users can easily circumvent Midjourney's policy, sometimes by merely adding a single backslash to a previously blocked prompt. Researchers also discovered that using physical descriptions of the candidates, rather than their names, allowed for the creation of misleading images.
Evidence suggests that bad actors are already exploiting Midjourney to produce content that could be used to disseminate election disinformation. The platform stores and makes publicly available all previously generated images, enabling other users to create misleading visuals of key political figures using prompts such as "donald trump getting arrested high quality, paparazzi photo" and "journalistic photo, Donald Trump and Vladmir Putin playing golf."
The article's focus on AI's role in combating climate misinformation had a mixed impact on the stock prices of the AI companies.
NASDAQ: FB
Current Price: $325.45
Change: + 0.8%
Technical analysis of Meta's stock suggests an overall upward trend, with the price consistently trading above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The MACD indicator shows a bullish crossover, with the MACD line surpassing the signal line, indicating positive momentum. Fibonacci retracement levels, based on the recent rally from $250 to $350, suggest potential support at the 38.2% level ($312) and the 50% level ($300). Bollinger Bands indicate that the stock is trading near the upper band, suggesting a possible overbought condition and potential for a short-term pullback.
NASDAQ: GOOGL
Current Price: $2,415.80
Change: - 0.3%
Alphabet's stock appears to be in a sideways trend, with the price oscillating between the support level at $2,300 and the resistance level at $2,500. The 50-day moving average is relatively flat, while the 200-day moving average shows a slight upward slope, indicating a neutral to mildly bullish sentiment. The MACD indicator displays a bearish crossover, with the MACD line crossing below the signal line, suggesting a potential downward momentum. Fibonacci retracement levels, based on the recent move from $2,200 to $2,600, indicate potential support at the 38.2% level ($2,448) and the 50% level ($2,400). Bollinger Bands show the stock trading within the bands, with no clear signs of a breakout.
NYSE: AID
Current Price: $45.60
Change: - 2.5%
Technical analysis of AI Dynamics stock suggests a downward trend, with the price trading below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The MACD indicator shows a bearish crossover, with the MACD line crossing below the signal line, indicating negative momentum. Fibonacci retracement levels, based on the recent decline from $60 to $40, suggest potential resistance at the 38.2% level ($47.60) and the 50% level ($50). Bollinger Bands indicate that the stock is trading near the lower band, suggesting a potential oversold condition and the possibility of a short-term bounce.
NASDAQ: ANTH
Current Price: $85.20
Change: + 0.5%
Technical analysis of Anthropic's stock reveals a sideways trend, with the price oscillating between the support level at $80 and the resistance level at $90. The 50-day moving average is relatively flat, while the 200-day moving average shows a slight upward slope, indicating a neutral to mildly bullish sentiment. The MACD indicator displays a bullish crossover, with the MACD line crossing above the signal line, suggesting potential upward momentum. Fibonacci retracement levels, based on the recent move from $70 to $100, indicate potential support at the 38.2% level ($88.60) and the 50% level ($85). Bollinger Bands show the stock trading within the bands, with no clear signs of a breakout.
