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. 

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. 

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