An AI-generated image of Thai police officers in sparkly dresses posing with a handcuffed suspect went viral after being posted on a police station's Facebook page. The image, which showed five men and one woman in elaborate festival-style dresses, was picked up by several UK newspapers including the Daily Star, the Telegraph, the Sun, and the New York Post.
The Sun reported: 'The burly crew of five men and one woman slipped into skin tight sequins and feathers for the covert mission in Thailand.' The Daily Star wrote: 'The team of five blokes and one woman shared a snap of themselves in frilly dresses with the nicked suspect on Facebook.' However, the arrest was real but the image was fake.
The real photograph, later posted by Tha Luang police station, shows the five male officers in regular clothes. The woman in the AI image was not present in the original. The station's Facebook administrator created the fake image to show 'a cute and humorous side' and foster a 'friendlier image' for the police.
The incident highlights the challenges media outlets face in verifying images, especially when fakes come from seemingly official sources. Editors acknowledge that AI verification tools are not yet reliable enough to catch all fakes before publication.
