Author uses AI to manipulate fake news documentary book

Occurred: October 2021ย 

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A book by celebrated Magnum photographer Jonas Bendiksen documenting life in Veles, the 'fake news' capital of North Macedonia, turned out to have been manipulated using AI.

Purporting to investigate disinformation production activities in a rural town notorious for its disinformation and misinformation factories, Bendiksen's The Book of Veles had been positively reviewed and screened at film festivals.ย 

However, with Veles' disinformation industry in decline, Bendiksen was found to have manipulated his photos using 3D software to make them more realistic. He also used a large language AI model to generate the accompanying commentary.ย 

The author confessed his manipulation after a Veles journalist took to Twitter to expose his fraudulent activities.

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Documents ๐Ÿ“ƒ

Operator: Magnum Photos
Developer: Jonas Bendiksen
Country: North Macedonia
Sector: Media/entertainment/sports/arts
Purpose: Expose mis/disinformation
Technology: NLP/text analysis
Issue: Mis/disinformation

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Type: Incident
Published: February 2022