YouTube creators are using fake Dolly Parton images
YouTube is facing criticism for surfacing AI-generated, deceptive images of the late Dolly Parton in its 'featured' and 'on the rise' sections. While some videos include AI disclosure labels, others do not, raising concerns about platform moderation and the spread of misinformation regarding public figures.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing struggle platforms face in moderating AI-generated misinformation and the potential for algorithms to amplify harmful or fake content.
Country music legend Dolly Parton died this week, and doctored images of the icon in the hospital are circulating online. There are no publicly available photos of Dolly Parton hospitalized or wearing a patient gown, but if you go on social media, you might not know that. On the morning of Aug. 27, Mashable observed at least three YouTube videos with fake, likely AI-generated images of Parton hospitalized in the thumbnails. The videos were surfaced by the YouTube app in sections labeled "Videos on the rise" and "YouTube featured":
Credit: Screenshot: YouTube
One thumbnail features Parton in a gown surrounded by tubes in front of, bizarrely, a city background, as if it was generated using images of both Parton and news anchors:
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