Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

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THUMBNAIL-CYBER

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1763693528542Cybersecurity-3.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">ABS-CBN News/file</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>MANILA — When outraged Filipinos turned to an AI-powered chatbot to verify a viral photograph of a lawmaker embroiled in a corruption scandal, the tool failed to detect it was fabricated — even though it had generated the image itself.</p><p>Internet users are increasingly turning to chatbots to verify images in real time, but the tools often fail, raising questions about their visual debunking capabilities at a time when major tech platforms are scaling back human fact-checking.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2025/10/15/dict-investigating-ai-manipulated-video-of-sotto-proposing-50-tax-for-content-creators-2337">DICT investigating AI-manipulated video of Sotto proposing 50% tax for content creators</a></div><p>In many cases, the tools wrongly identify images as real even when they are generated using the same generative models, further muddying an online information landscape awash with AI-generated fakes.</p><p>Among them is a fabricated image circulating on social media of Elizaldy Co, a former Philippine lawmaker charged by prosecutors in a multibillion-dollar flood-control corruption scam that sparked massive protests in the disaster-prone country.</p><p>The image of Co, whose whereabouts has been unknown since the official probe began, appeared to show him in Portugal.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2025/6/24/cicc-warns-vs-deepfake-video-using-president-s-image-to-promote-trading-platform-0700">CICC warns vs deepfake video using President&#x27;s image to promote online trading</a></div><p>When online sleuths tracking him asked Google&#x27;s new AI mode whether the image was real, it incorrectly said it was authentic.</p><p>AFP&#x27;s fact-checkers tracked down its creator and determined that the image was generated using Google AI.</p><p>&quot;These models are trained primarily on language patterns and lack the specialized visual understanding needed to accurately identify AI-generated or manipulated imagery,&quot; Alon Yamin, chief executive of AI content detection platform Copyleaks, told AFP.</p><p>&quot;With AI chatbots, even when an image originates from a similar generative model, the chatbot often provides inconsistent or overly generalized assessments, making them unreliable for tasks like fact-checking or verifying authenticity.&quot;</p><p>Google did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.</p><div><br/></div><div><span style="background-color:transparent"><strong>&#x27;DISTINGUISHABLE FROM REALITY&#x27; </strong></span></div><div><br/></div><div><span style="background-color:transparent">AFP found similar examples of AI tools failing to verify their own creations.</span></div><p>During last month&#x27;s deadly protests over lucrative benefits for senior officials in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, social media users shared a fabricated image purportedly showing men marching with flags and torches.</p><p>An AFP analysis found it was created using Google&#x27;s Gemini AI model.</p><p>But Gemini and Microsoft&#x27;s Copilot falsely identified it as a genuine image of the protest.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/3/alamin-ang-ang-panganib-ng-ai-deepfake-1943">ALAMIN: Ano ang panganib ng AI, deepfake?</a></div><p>&quot;This inability to correctly identify AI images stems from the fact that they (AI models) are programmed only to mimic well,&quot; Rossine Fallorina, from the nonprofit Sigla Research Center, told AFP.</p><p>&quot;In a sense, they can only generate things to resemble. They cannot ascertain whether the resemblance is actually distinguishable from reality.&quot;</p><p>Earlier this year, Columbia University&#x27;s Tow Center for Digital Journalism tested the ability of seven AI chatbots -- including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok, and Gemini -- to verify 10 images from photojournalists of news events.</p><p>All seven models failed to correctly identify the provenance of the photos, the study said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;SHOCKED&#x27;</strong><strong></strong><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong> </strong></div><p>AFP tracked down the source of Co&#x27;s photo that garnered over a million views across social media -- a middle-aged web developer in the Philippines, who said he created it &quot;for fun&quot; using Nano Banana, Gemini&#x27;s AI image generator.</p><p>&quot;Sadly, a lot of people believed it,&quot; he told AFP, requesting anonymity to avoid a backlash.</p><p>&quot;I edited my post -- and added &#x27;AI generated&#x27; to stop the spread -- because I was shocked at how many shares it got.&quot;</p><p>Such cases show how AI-generated photos flooding social platforms can look virtually identical to real imagery.</p><p>The trend has fueled concerns as surveys show online users are increasingly shifting from traditional search engines to AI tools for information gathering and verifying information.</p><p>The shift comes as Meta announced earlier this year it was ending its third-party fact-checking program in the United States, turning over the task of debunking falsehoods to ordinary users under a model known as &quot;Community Notes.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/1/10/meta-s-fact-check-pivot-to-hit-orgs-in-ph-global-south-worst-experts-1549">Meta’s fact-check pivot to hit orgs in PH, ‘Global South’ worst — experts</a></div><p>Human fact-checking has long been a flashpoint in hyperpolarized societies, where conservative advocates accuse professional fact-checkers of liberal bias, a charge they reject.</p><p>AFP currently works in 26 languages with Meta&#x27;s fact-checking program, including in Asia, Latin America, and the European Union.</p><p>Researchers say AI models can be useful to professional fact-checkers, helping to quickly geolocate images and spot visual clues to establish authenticity. But they caution that they cannot replace the work of trained human fact-checkers.</p><p>&quot;We can&#x27;t rely on AI tools to combat AI in the long run,&quot; Fallorina said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cYMSCAY4glA?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZTJajXlEW30?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PIYAFH0R6y0?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gdUIlaoovmg?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong><strong></strong><br/></div>

<p>Internet users are increasingly turning to chatbots to verify images in real time, but the tools often fail, raising questions about their visual debunking capabilities at a time when major tech platforms are scaling back human fact-checking.</p>

Internet users are increasingly turning to chatbots to verify images in real time, but the tools often fail, raising questions about their visual debunking capabilities at a time when major tech platforms are scaling back human fact-checking.

AI's blind spot: Tools fail to detect their own fakes

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AI's blind spot: Tools fail to detect their own fakes

Ara Eugenio,

Purple Romero,

Anuj Chopra,

Agence France-Presse

Published Nov 21, 2025 10:53 AM PHT

|

Updated Nov 21, 2025 10:58 AM PHT

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AI

technology

misinformation

deepfake

tech

Agence France-Presse

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