At the very least, 19 fake personalities that created were mentioned in the op-eds section and posted in several conservative publications. The technique of using these pseudo-writers was intended to make people believe that the publication was coming from actual, existent writers.
In other news, this isn’t the first time either that AI has been misused in such a way to trick other people. Regardless of the irregularity of such a spectacle, a report published by The Associated Press discovered a fake profile on LinkedIn that used an AI-generated headshot as well. This was thought to be some sort of attempt made by probable spies to link with professional targets.
Examples of AI Created Pictures (not related to this story) | Source: 9to5trends
ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com is popular for creating imitations, fake AI profile photos, in particular, that is. When it comes to such a task, there is a couple of distinct favorable aspects associated, such as the AI-generated photos being genuinely unique and untraceable. This would mean that they cannot be back-traced to the source using a reverse image search, but the concept also implies that they could be proven fake as quickly as well.
The current technology revolving around the generation of AI images isn’t perfect to begin with. For instance, all of the fake creations have mutual flaws. This includes peculiar teeth, unbalanced features, blurry hair, earlobes with a certain melted appearance, and misty backgrounds.
Several of these can be observed in the headshots created in the report by The Daily Beast. While others may just steal avatars and use them for their cause, the personas used here have common attributes that represent their integrity for one campaign only.
The report made by The Verge says,
The personas identified by The Daily Beast were generally contributors to two linked sites, The Arab Eye and Persia Now; had Twitter accounts created in March or April 2020; presented themselves as political consultants and freelance journalists mostly based in European capitals; lied about their academic or professional credentials in phony LinkedIn accounts; used fake or stolen avatars manipulated to defeat reverse image searches; and linked to or amplified each others’ work.
No one can say for sure who exactly created this online propaganda. Still, nevertheless, it does stand for specific editorial values involving an argument in place for increasing sanctions against Iran, the appraisal of Gulf states like the UAE, and criticism of Qatar, which has been the subject of diplomacy and an economic ban coming from the UAE, and other Middle East states due to the country being accused of supporting terrorism.
The channel has been used to from op-eds posted in US outlets such as The Washington Examiner, the American Thinker, along with The Jerusalem Post and Al Arabiya, which are papers from the Middle East. The publications are also on Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post. Following the report made by The Daily Beast, 15 Twitter accounts have become a victim of suspension as they were associated with counterfeit writers.