A fake photo of Katy Perry generated more than 13 million views on the X platform. Even the singer's mother fell for it.
The message is accompanied by several “explosion” emojis, to show surprise and joy. “ Oh my little feather, I didn't know you went to the Met Gala! What a magnificent dress! » writes Katy Perry's mother to her daughter in a private exchange, on the evening of May 6, 2024. The text is accompanied by a screenshot of an image where we see the singer with a magnificent 3D printed floral dress.
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This dress does not exist, Katy Perry did not even attend the big annual charity Gala, which brings together the most fashionable stars. “ Attention ! », replies the artist to his mother. “ You were fooled by the AI! » She was the one who shared this exchange on his official Instagram account, quickly garnering more than a million “likes”. The caption states: “ I wasn't at the Met, I had work. »
Each time, the theme of the event is linked to that of the Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibition. In 2024, it was “Garden of Time.” Katy Perry's fake dress fits right into the plant theme. In addition to being appropriate for the occasion, it stands out from other real outfits with its audacity and ambitious finishes.
13 million impressions in 10 hours
The Internet user who is at the origin of this fake nicknames himself javi. He published the fake image on X (formerly Twitter) on the evening of May 6, when the platform was flooded with real photos of stars on the stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In just 10 hours, it garnered more than 13 million views.
In the caption, we find a “community note” which explains that the image was “generated by an AI”, and that the stairs we see date from the 2018 Met Gala and not from 2024. Despite this precision, many Internet users have fallen into the trap, without succeeding in authenticating the photo.
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The image, although reported as false, had still not been removed half a day after its publication. Elon Musk, the new boss of X, was nevertheless committed to fighting against fake news and bots at the end of last year.
The motivations of the Internet user behind this fake are not clear; it could be a simple desire to generate maximum engagement. On commitment bait).
It is becoming increasingly rare to be able to distinguish a real photo from an image generated by artificial intelligence: in just two years, AI generation software has made phenomenal progress. Just two weeks ago, a fake photo of an damaged Tesla, generated with Midjourney, sowed doubt on the web.