The dawn of a new day

Context

Fact

Artificial Intelligence is increasingly impacting our lives and the way humans relate to technology and the Internet. This extraordinary invention is also finding application in the increasingly realistic production of images: Artificial Intelligence is making great strides in perfecting the production of images by eliminating errors and imperfections that were present in earlier productions. Today, at first glance, it is very hard to determine whether an image published for example on a social account is real or the work of this technology. That's exactly why some AI-generated images are created to feed disinformation or are taken as true, thus fueling the phenomenon of misinformation. Many of the images generated by Artificial Intelligence concern public figures or celebrities, as well as heads of state and government.    

Manipulation

Ever since his second electoral victory in 2024, the media has been questioning the relationship between the President of the United States Donald Trump and Tesla and Space X patron Elon Musk. What it seems to be certain is that Musk's presence at official occasions is always viewed by the media with some interest, fueling questions about how much power Musk has within the Trump administration: this is why pictures and photographs in which Trump and Musk are present at the same time are usually widely widespread. That's why the photo that appeared on the platform X depicting Trump, Musk and the Prime Minister of Israel Netanyahu was widely used by the American media and beyond: the image, generated by the Artificial Intelligence, was also widely circulated in other countries and media outlets.     

Anecdot

The account that posted the AI-generated image is known as George Orwell (@OrwellTruth1984 on X). Whoever posted the image had no intention of making it appear to be real, so much so that the user specified from the beginning that it was an image generated with AI software. However, the image has been circulated without the label @OrwellTruth1984 (present in the original image) and without any connection or reference to AI.    

Teaching part

Teaching objective 

To deduce the reasons for misinformation from the analysis of the following photographic source within a social media post.  

Knowledge 1: Spread narrative in the post and verification  

The aim of the post is clear: in the original post appeared on X, the phrase “The dawn of a new day” can be read in Hebrew just on the top of the post. The creator's intention was probably to send a message that was not only political but also ironic (and perhaps critical) about the people portrayed in the image. This image winks at some of the narratives that see Musk as a person capable of influencing the President of the United States to the extent of being at his side in several public meetings and official occasions.    

Knowledge 2: Photographic source analysis within a social media post 

The image is an IA generated content. There are certain clues and details that make it clear that the image cannot be a real photograph (https://www.open.online/2025/02/05/falsa-foto-netanyahu-trump-musk-intelligenza-artificiale-community-notes-fc/)   

Remember:  

Digital sources are pieces of online content that help us understand and verify events. Just like historical sources, they can be classified based on their connection to reality: 

• Primary sources: original images or videos captured at the time of an event, such as a photo taken on a smartphone, live-stream footage, or an unedited security camera recording. 

• Secondary sources: images or videos that have been edited, modified, or republished. These could be news articles that crop or change a photo, AI-enhanced versions of real images, or deepfakes that alter someone’s appearance. 

• Synthetic sources: images or videos that are completely created by artificial intelligence or digital editing with no connection to real events. These include AI-generated people, fake landscapes, or entirely fictional news images. 

When analysing images on social media, we must remember that they don’t exist in isolation—they come with captions, hashtags, likes, and shares that influence how we interpret them. The same image can be framed in different ways to change its meaning, sometimes to mislead or spread false information. That’s why it’s important to check not just the image itself, but also its context, who shared it, and how it’s being used before trusting it. 

Evaluation criteria

Deduce the reasons for misinformation by analysing the image and its context within the social media post. 

Instruction for the activity

Context: Now that you have understood the connection between disinformation and the way images are used to shape narratives, consider the context of the digital image: Where was it published? What event or situation does it claim to represent? Who are the key figures or elements in the image? Starting point.  

Start of activity: Observe the image individually, and once analyzed, answer the questions to identify key aspects related to its source, authenticity, and use. Focus on both the image itself and how it is presented within its digital environment. Initial phase.  

In order to answer some of the following questions, you have to do a reverse image search.  

Development of activity. Once you have observed this image, fill in the second part of the worksheet with your group, which allows you to understand a little about the context of it. Development Phase  

Activity development. Now try to deduce with all the information you have collected so far to understand how and why this source has been manipulated by Franco's propaganda. Final phase   

Closing. Organize your speech based on evidence collected to argue your opinion in relation to what you have learned.   

Instruction for the teacher

The dawn of a new day   

Solution  

Explanation  - the fact check process

The original image is immediately recognizable as AI-generated content: not only is the name of the account that first published it (also signaling ownership of the content) present in the image, but its creator himself had specified from the outset that it was an AI-generated image. 

However, the image circulated out of its original context (i.e. without the indication that it was IA generated content) without even the name of the creator, which was cleverly cut from the image. 

Despite this, a careful eye and careful analysis reveals some unrealistic details such as the fingers of the hands, in particular the thumbs of the two leaders and the index finger of Musk. Moreover even the facial skin and smiles of the protagonists in the photo do not look real but plastic and hyper-realistic.  

In addition to image analysis, another method can be a reverse image search: by analyzing some of the search results and discarding media outlets (with a click restraint technique) that published the photo as if it was real, it would probably have been possible to trace back to the original source that published the image. 

Source of the original post: https://x.com/OrwellTruth1984/status/1886408973022081283