A very muscular cow. A shark jumping out of the muddy sea. Shrimp Jesus: An outlandish image that appears to have been generated by artificial intelligence is causing a stir on Facebook, leaving users amused, confused and wary of scams.
Most of the images come from dozens of Facebook pages posted almost every hour of the day, many of which inexplicably center around themes about Jesus and flight attendants. Some of those pages have gained significant followings in recent months, with comments on their posts ranging from bot-like praise to vitriol directed at users who believe the images are real. It is often submitted.
A new Stanford Internet Observatory analysis of 120 of these pages finds that these images have received hundreds of millions of engagements on the platform, some of which are apparently run by the same administrators. .
Whether made from plastic bottles or carved from sand, intricate artistic representations of Jesus are among the most common images. These days, Jesus primarily took the form of sea creatures such as shrimp, crabs, and seahorses. “I made it with my own hands! 😊,” these posts claim, often lamenting, “No one likes my artwork 😭😭.”
And female flight attendants, most of whom appear to be East Asian, are frequently depicted holding crosses and praying with Jesus while smearing themselves with mud. In what appears to be a crossover event, there are also images of flight attendants posing with Jesus the Shrimp.
Also especially popular are young people showing off the stunning works of art they are said to have created, including a Jesus made of fruit, a car made from plastic bottles, and a tiger made from tire treads. Images of black children. According to the captions of some of these posts, these “African boys” are “the best designers in the village 💪❤️👍💪🙏” and go on to proclaim, “Made with my own hands!” I am.
Many of these AI photos feature people commenting “amen” on bizarre images of Jesus, praising the impressive work of non-existent artists, or showing the birth of a fake child sitting pitifully in the mud. It attracts a stream of users wishing happy days. 404 Media, a technology-focused news startup, first reported on the AI images flooding Facebook.
While Meta is working on ways to automatically detect such content, it also requires users to label AI-generated content on the platform. The majority of images do not indicate on the post or page that they were generated by AI.
Mehta did not respond to requests for comment.
Information researchers are increasingly concerned about the impact of flooding social platforms with unchecked AI images, as generative AI technologies make it easier to spread misleading content and outright disinformation.
According to comments found in many posts, certain characteristics of AI-generated art make it easier to distinguish between real and synthetic images, but there is currently no systematic labeling. It is said that many users, especially the elderly, are being fooled by fake content. Although these Facebook pages do not indicate a clear motive for AI spam, users have already flagged possible fraudulent activity.
The Stanford University study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that some of the images, posted from Facebook pages, were stolen from other people and organizations, including a Georgia church and a windmill dealer, and reused in AI spam. It also became clear that page.
One such page is now filled with AI images of Jesus and a flight attendant, along with the name of a North Carolina high school band. Davie County Schools spokeswoman Karen Jarvis confirmed in an email that the “Davie High School War Eagle Band” page is not affiliated with the school, which has now been forced to create a new page.
“This was actually the original DCHS band Facebook page, but it was hijacked from our high school band and has since become what you see today,” Jarvis wrote. “There were countless attempts (from band directors, school officials, current band members, and alumni) to take back control and report the page and images, but Facebook did not respond.”
This phenomenon has led some observers to speculate that the page may be guiding gullible users to identify potential scam targets.
“AI-generated content appears to be a boon for spammers and scammers, as images are easy to generate, often visually sensational, and attract engagement,” researchers at Stanford University said. write in a preprint paper.
In addition to engaging with genuine commenters, these pages utilize a “corpse of inauthentic followers” to make themselves appear more legitimate, and fraudulent accounts sometimes They say they ask for personal information and try to sell fake products.
A search by NBC News found multiple replies from accounts asking to be friends with commenters, each using a similar script. One commenter wrote: very cute! ! ” I posted an AI-generated image of a toddler cuddling in a basket containing kittens, and within hours I received a reply from a recently created account by the name Stephen Townsend. The account responded to a request for comment. However, other than the profile and cover photo uploaded on the same day, no personal information or posts were displayed.
“Hello, to be honest, I’m really impressed with your profile and personality. I also admire your sense of humor here. I don’t usually write in the comments section, but you did this I think you deserve a compliment,” the profile replied. “I want to be friends with you. Please send me a friend request. If you don’t mind. Thank you.”
This is the same style of commenting seen across Facebook, typically left directly on users’ profile pages as well as in replies to comments on popular AI posts. Some users, who suspect that these pages are promoting potential fraudulent campaigns, have posted comments warning that it may be difficult to tell that certain images are generated by AI. I’m leaving it.
Hazel Thayer, a Facebook user who noticed strange images in her feed a few weeks ago and shared some of them on TikTok, says she now sees an AI like this on probably every 10 posts. He said he started receiving images. He only got one — that was his four posts. ”
And from her point of view, it certainly looks like a fake activity.
“Because when you see these shrimpy Jesus comments, people say, ‘Amen,'” Thayer said. “I don’t think anyone would shout ‘Hallelujah’ to our shrimp master.”
