Kate Middleton suspected of using AI to edit family photo

Occurred: March 2024

The Princess of Wales was suspected of using AI to doctor a family image apparently intended to celebrate Mother's Day and reassure the general public that she had recovered from abdominal surgery. 

Among the red flags were a misalignment in the step behind Prince Louis’s leg; some distortion at Princess Charlotte’s left wrist, with a portion of her sleeve breaking free; blurring at the knee of Charlotte’s tights; distortion in Prince George’s right fingers; and a missing wedding ring.

Commentators pointed out that many of these issues are often connected with artificial intelligence. AI is built into photo editing tools such as Photoshop and freely available on many mobile phone-based applications. 

The discovery prompted photo agencies including Agence France-Presse, AP and Reuters to pull the photo over concerns it might have been 'manipulated,' and raised concerns about the use of AI to generate and edit photographs of public figures. 

The fracas was seen to have damaged the reputation of the Royal Family and to have further reduced trust in public institutions.

System 🤖

Operator: British royal family
Developer:  
Country: UK
Sector: Media/entertainment/sports/arts
Purpose: Edit photograph
Technology: 
Issue: Ethics/values
Transparency: Governance; Marketing

Manipulation analysis ⚠️

Page info
Type: Incident
Published: March 2024