Watchdog warns Ukrainians of social media posts with AI-generated images of soldiers

The Center for Countering Disinformation warns of the malicious distribution of AI-generated “photos” of Ukrainian service members across social media.

That’s according to a CCD report posted on Facebook, Ukrinform saw.

"In the Ukrainian segment of social media, a large number of posts circulate, containing photos with clear signs of being generated by artificial intelligence, of purportedly Ukrainian military service members, with calls to congratulate them on either their birthday or wedding. There are also posts about rescued animals, children, or the elderly. Russia could use these profiles on social media in an information war against Ukraine," the statement says.

Posts of this kind are often circulated by bots, whose goal is to evoke emotion and encourage users to react. In this way, these images receive thousands of actual interactions from real users, which contributes to the rapid promotion of profiles that share these images.

In particular, posts with AI images attract large audiences that are not too critical of what they see online, being vulnerable to manipulation. In this way, the enemy gets a platform to promote narratives that threaten Ukraine.

These posts can also be used in fraud schemes as they often contain malicious links that can be disguised as some petition that urgently needs to be signed, the CCD emphasizes.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Russia’s intelligence deployed call centers to spread fake news and recruit Ukrainians for clandestine cooperation.

Photo: CCD / Facebook