A fake AI image of the Pope fooled millions into believing it was real

Evidence

Pope Francis looked stunning—the latest celebrity to undergo a high-fashion glow up. The eighty-six-year-old pontiff finally found a fashion look as contemporary as his take on Catholic doctrine. With the traditional white zucchetto atop his head, he appeared in a sleek, belted white puffer coat—a bespoke masterpiece that could easily have been from Balenciaga or Moncler. And nothing made him look more like a true man of the people than the Starbucks cup in his right hand. … If only the image were real. In early 2023, a thirty-one-year-old Chicago construction worker had made this piece of art while high on psychedelic mushrooms using the generative AI tool Midjourney. He first shared the image in the Facebook group AI Art Universe before posting it to Reddit, where he was quickly banned. By then, it had already gone viral, with many believing it to be an actual photograph. Internet culture critic Ryan Broderick hailed it as “the first real AI-generated hoax.” — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 688

Categorization

• CANDY: The Pope puffer coat photo hoax is a perfect light conversation piece.
• XREF: connects to: Computer-Antichrist rumors grew so common even believers later repudiated them — Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic…, 259