--- title: "People Keep Posting Phony AI-Generated Images of Trump Getting Arrested" description: "People are using AI-generated images of Donald Trump getting arrested by the NYPD before it actually happens, because that's the world we live in now, apparently. As The Daily Beast reports — and as Twitter users have, independently, been posting about to the point of virality — folks who can't wait for Trump to actually get […]" date: "2023-03-21" modified: "2023-03-21" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/fake-trump-arrest-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "donald trump" - "midjourney" - "the digest" --- # People Keep Posting Phony AI-Generated Images of Trump Getting Arrested ![People are using AI-generated images of Donald Trump getting arrested by the NYPD before it actually happens, because that's the world we live in now.]() *\Image: Eliot Higgins via Twitter / Futurism\* ## Sc-AI-m Artists People are spreading AI-generated images of Donald Trump getting arrested before it's even happened — assuming it [actually does](), that is — because that's the world we live in now, apparently. As [*The Daily Beast* reports]() — and as Twitter users have been posting about to the point of virality — folks who can't wait for Trump to actually get arrested over charges reportedly related to his ancient "hush money" payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels have taken to posting AI-generated images to suggest that he's already been arrested. These images and the [Trump-promoted claim]() that the former president is going to be arrested today happen to coincide with the release of the latest version of the powerful Midjourney image generator. Indeed, last week Bellingcat founder and creative director Eliot Higgins prompted the AI to create an "[entirely fictional \[Trump\] perp walk]()," the results of which have the same feel as the other images being passed off as the real thing on Twitter dot com. https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/1637927681734987777 ## Brave New World In an interview with the *Daily Beast*, Harvard misinformation expert and researcher Joan Donavan affirmed that "unfortunately, these tools for creating realistic images are very useful for hoaxing the public." "We are witnessing a new form of 'anticipatory disinformation,'" she told the site, "where rumors are made into reality through the creation of media covering events that never happened." While looking at these posts closely reveals little clues that they're AI-generated, those who see them in the wild — and especially those who have a vested interest in the story, regardless of which side of the political spectrum they may fall on — might not pick up on those nuances. https://twitter.com/Goran\_Majic/status/1638219810243837952 With concerns over political deepfakes going back years, with the [Pentagon announcing back in 2019]() that the burgeoning technology is a national security issue (while, of course, [developing their own ways to use it]()), it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. For now, we have experts who can definitively say that the images people are seeing are phony — but will that be the case after the next update to the tech, or when someone with an interest in obscuring the truth declares them real? https://twitter.com/ChristianAglen/status/1638218857876783105 **More on AI imagery:** [*Watch Out, Folks: AI Image Generators Can Do Hands Now*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()