Deepfake Pope Francis wears white puffa jacket

An 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 who said he came up with the idea after taking mushrooms. Created using the Midjourney image generator, many people believed it was real. 

The incident persuaded Midjourney to stop free trials of its technology citing a massive influx of new users abusing free credits.