By 2 min readMarch 10, 2026 – 1:54PMAFP
Publication Date: 2026-03-10 02:54:00
The war in the Middle East has unleashed a flood of AI-driven disinformation. Beyond completely made-up images, another type of content is spreading: authentic images that are “enhanced” in ways that experts say subtly distort the perception of what’s happening on the ground.
In a striking photo, a kneeling US pilot is confronted by a Kuwaiti local shortly after parachuting out of his jet. The high-quality image was widely shared online and even published by media outlets. Yet the pilot only appears to have four fingers on each hand.
AFP fact-checkers examined the photo using AI recognition tools and found that it contained a SynthID, an invisible watermark designed to identify images created with Google AI. But that’s not the whole story.
The situation itself seems real. On March 2, a video showing the same scene spread on social media, and satellite images confirmed the location. It also corresponded with reports that day that Kuwait had accidentally shot down three U.S. warplanes.
AFP…
