Katy Perry’s fake AI photo at the Met Gala even fooled her mother

Digital misinformation has become common, and the Met Gala 2024 was not spared as numerous AI-generated photos of absent celebrities were widely shared on social networks, including images of Katy Perry that managed to fool… her own mother!

Met Gala: BBC Verify examines fake Katy Perry AI-generated image https://t.co/LobdD9UO8T

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 7, 2024

Katy Perry and Rihanna, among others, were misrepresented at the Met Gala through very realistic, but entirely fake images. And it’s this aberrant realism that raises the question of the need for legislation on the use of images generated by artificial intelligence.

A photo of Rihanna, smiling in front of photographers in an evening gown, circulated online, disconcerting many, as the star, absent from the event, was ill with the flu.

Rihanna at the 2024 Met Gala pic.twitter.com/rPdArg46RB

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The scenes from the event that were used to create the images made them look so real that they fooled a majority of admirers. The fake images were given credibility by details such as the appearance of the dresses and the celebrities’ previous appearances at the gala. The outfits were in keeping with the gala’s 2024: The Garden of Time theme, making it very difficult to demystify the real from the fake.

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A post shared by KATY PERRY (@katyperry)

Perry’s AI-generated floral dress was convincing enough that even her mother was fooled, according to an funny Instagram exchange posted by the singer.

The singer found it amusing that her mother was fooled by the fake images, but understand the risk associated with this kind of practice are obvious.

Indeed, these incidents provoke both concern and amusement. Users and social media platforms will have to be extra vigilant to spot content generated by AI, whose technology is rapidly evolving.

All the more so as this time, the aim was to produce aesthetically pleasing images with no negative consequences, but it should be remembered that it is also possible, conversely, to create content that can propagate other, far less positive, types of message.