Deepfake Pope Francis wears white puffa jacket

A deepfake image of the Pope clad in a Belanciaga puffer jacket went viral on the internet, leading to commentary that the age of mass graphic misinformation and disinformation has arrived.

The image was a deepfake created by 'Pablo Xavier', a Chicago-based construction worker using the Midjourney image generator. Xavier said he came up with the idea after taking mushrooms. 

According to media reports, many people believed the image was real. The incident persuaded Midjourney to stop free trials of its technology citing a massive influx of new users abusing free credits.

The images were rated 'Highly Suspicious' with 100 percent confidence by disinformation detection non-profit organisation TrueMedia.