AI Responsible For Fake “Terrorist Attack” On The Pentagon

News Of An Explosion At The Pentagon Was A Hoax

On Tuesday, 23rd  May 2023, an image appeared on various social media platforms including Twitter showing a large explosion near the Pentagon. The picture spread like wildfire bringing causing a frenzy.

In a matter of minutes, many social media accounts, including verified ones, had reposted the fake picture. This only worked to amplify the confusion since there was no other information online at the time to verify that the explosion had occurred.

However, it was only a matter of time before people started noticing issues with the image. One of such people was Bellingcat’s, Nick Waters.

One of the problems with the image was the apparent lack of firsthand witnesses to collaborate with the story told by the picture. The Pentagon is normally a busy location but the image showed a deserted or isolated building.

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Another problem is that the building is noticeably different from the Pentagon. However, the differences are noticeable if you’re familiar with the building or compare the fake to the original on Google Street View.

Nick Waters went ahead and speculated that the picture might be AI-generated. “Confident that this picture claiming to show an “explosion near the Pentagon” is AI-generated,” he said.

Additional information, such as the strange-looking floating lamp post and the black pole sticking out of the pavement also cast a shadow of doubt on the authenticity of the image.

Soon enough official organizations and bodies such as the Arlington Fire Department spoke up to end the pandemonium. The department explained, “There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public.”

Was The Image AI-Generated?

The photo was first posted on Twitter by the account @Deltaone at 10:06 a.m. ET. While it is yet to be proven or disproven whether the image is AI-generated, Deltaone did confirm that the news of a Pentagon explosion was a hoax.

However, the image does feature some of the main characteristics of AI-generated images. For instance, the hoax photo’s alleged building has varying-sized columns, and the fence occasionally seems to fade into the pavement.

Many image generation tools such as Midjourney and Dall-e 2 make use of several real images to generate a new one. This in most cases can result in extra hands or fingers when generating humans or objects morphing into their surroundings as the fence did.