Social media accounts on the X platform published an image claiming to depict weapons inside a tunnel in Gaza, asserting that the tunnel was located beneath a World Health Organization hospital.
Investigating the image's origin led to an account on X platform identified as “Gregsy." The account published the image on November 22 as a comment on a video shared by Eli David, an Israeli researcher, and lecturer in deep learning techniques.
The video showed a quantity of weapons that David claimed belonged to Hamas and were found by the occupation army inside Al-Shifa Hospital after storming the complex. The image appeared to be inspired by the same video. “Emergency medical services," Gregsy sarcastically commented on it.
Checking Gregsy’s account, Misbar noticed that it frequently published images appearing to be generated with an artificial intelligence for the purpose of Israeli propaganda.
David reposted the image 45 minutes after Gregsy’s comment, crediting Gregsy as the source.
Misbar noticed that Gregsy does not mention any sources for the images he posts, nor the tools he uses to produce them.
Indicators Point to an Ai-Generated Image
Misbar noticed signs that the image was produced using artificial intelligence generative software. Many distortions, contradictions, and errors appear in the picture's structure, including a rifle positioned in the right angle that seems to curve following the wall's curvature.
Additionally, some rifles show appendages, such as the cylinder on the back of a weapon. One of the rifles has two aiming reticles. Some parts of the reticles appear randomly connected to the rifle, not in a vertical way. The ammunition magazine and the orange-framed handle do not appear to be parallel, as these parts are supposed to be.
Misbar also noticed that the design of the yellow-framed components was incomplete, and the missing shapes' sizes were proportional to the spaces, suggesting they were created solely to fill gaps.
The pointed cylinder shapes at both ends do not resemble any standard weapons equipment, lacking signs of holders or supporting parts for organized installation. Instead, they appear as if merely glued to the tunnel wall.
Moreover, the picture lacks logical consistency in various aspects. The tunnel's roof appears to be dirt-based, indicating a lack of concrete arch support, contrary to military tunnel construction standards. The congested floor makes movement seemingly impossible, and the unnaturally consistent arrangement of elements raises doubts about the picture's authenticity.
The shadows in the image do not match the depicted objects' nature; they appear discordant in shape and direction, with varying lighting across the image. A prominent dark spot at the top suggests potential fabrication.
Additionally, there are noticeable distortions in the weaponry depicted in the picture below. The rifle highlighted in orange appears crooked, while the one marked in yellow shows two joined wooden pieces (the stock). Moreover, the ammunition magazines in the two rifles framed in orange are identical despite being different types, with one magazine notably thin and narrow in the middle."
Techniques To Determine AI Generated Images
The core technology behind what is called “diffusion-based” image synthesis, used in projects such as Midjourney, Dall-E, and Stable Diffusion, relies on complex mechanisms involving deep neural networks.
One method to identify AI-generated images involves analyzing the image's shadows to determine their consistency and correspondence to a real light source. This approach exposes irregularities in AI-generated images when shadows deviate from the expected behavior in the real world.
Reflection analysis serves as another indicator of AI-generated images. This technique involves checking whether the reflections are consistent with a real-world scenario, when objects are reflected on a flat surface, the lines connecting the object to its reflection should converge at a single vanishing point. In real images, these lines converge almost to one point, while strong deviations indicate that the image should not be trusted.
Israel Claims Tunnel Discoveries in Gaza
This claim comes along with Israeli allegations about the occupation army discovering tunnels belonging to Hamas in Gaza, which the Associated Press could not independently verify, as the agency said that Israel allowed its journalists to enter Gaza on the condition that they remain with the military convoy organizing the four hour tour. All content is subject to military approval before publication. The Associated Press added that there is no other way for foreign journalists currently to access this tunnel.
Read More
Facebook Approves Advertisements Inciting Murder and Violence Against Palestinians
