“Wow so amazing”, “absolutely beautiful”, “my God what a beautiful place. This is where I have to go.” Words of praise from foreign profiles overflow in the comment fields of the Facebook profile “Norway love”. The site, with over 41,000 likes and 157,000 followers, posts inviting photos several times a day that show Norway from “its best side”. This is what one of the posts on the Facebook page “Norway love” looks like. Photo: Skjermdump / Facebook Both the Oslo Castle, beautiful natural images from the mountain home and Norwegian fjords are among the motifs. But there is only one problem. The beautiful pictures from “Norway” are not real – but created with artificial intelligence: news has tried to get in touch with those behind the Facebook page without success. More note Frank Haughom runs the Facebook page Spectacular Norway together with his son Simen. Since 2016, father and son have gained almost over one million followers on social media by posting self-produced photos and videos from well-known and unknown Norwegian tourist gems. Frank and Simen Haughom have built up a large following on social media who like their pictures of Norway. Now they see more and more people doing the same with AI. Photo: Privat Haughom says that they have become increasingly aware of fake “competitors” who operate with AI. – They challenge real platforms that put in a lot of work and resources to get a shot. He believes that trickery can have a downside for those who engage in this in an honest way. – The danger is that the motivation to travel around Norway, get up in the middle of the night and buy expensive equipment disappears if fake photos that can appear perfect get more likes and attention, he continues. Photo: Skjermdump / Spectacular Norway/Facebook In addition, he is afraid that the fake photos give foreign tourists exaggerated expectations of what Norway really looks like. – For example, if there are northern lights in a place that never happens in reality. Or if places are simply created that do not exist in reality. It becomes more difficult to distinguish between what is true and what is false. – We have actually experienced getting comments that “this looks so spectacular, that it must be artificial intelligence”. – Strikingly beautiful Geraldine Cook from Melbourne in Australia is on holiday in Norway and Bodø. She is not a fan of the images news has found on social media. – From the little I have seen of Norway, it is strikingly beautiful. There is something about reconstructing Norway that way that I don’t like, says Cook. – Norwegian nature is beautiful enough, says Australian Geraldine Cook, who is on holiday in Norway this summer. Photo: Johannes Sæheim Pedersen / news She continues: – It is important to take care of the natural and real. It should then be completely unnecessary to use fake photos. Norwegian nature is already more than good enough. This is what people in Bodø think about AI-generated images: Åke Larsson and Karl Isak Jerner – I think it’s perfectly okay. It’s fun to see what computers can do. It’s funny that there are more than there are already pictures out there, says Jerner and is partially supported by friend Åke Larsson: – It’s good in many ways. You make the photos easier instead of having to go somewhere. It is also dangerous to think about what artificial intelligence can do, if it ends up in the wrong hands. Per Oskar Haukland – It is very stupid that AI is used to generate images. It is important that things are real. It will just be nonsense if everyone should be able to make pictures of anything. In Norway we already have a very beautiful nature and do not need to fake it.Cecilie and Eskil Heide – It will be a bit wrong. It does not give the right impression when it is cheated, says Cecilie. – It is something that is becoming more and more common. It is difficult to distinguish between what is real and what is not. One would have thought that it was not very necessary, says Eskil. Want clearer labeling Meta has received criticism from privacy advisers and AI experts after it became known that Facebook and Instagram will use people’s personal photos and posts to train AI. Earlier this summer, the training was put on hold by the Irish Data Protection Authority. Haughom hopes the company takes steps to distinguish between what is AI and what is not. He wants clear markings on which posts are real and which are not. – There should be a way that automatically marks what is real and what is made with artificial intelligence in a simple way, so that ordinary users are not deceived. Published 29/07/2024, at 11.28
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AI images deceive people on social media – news Nordland
