Do we need labelling laws for content? Bizarre AI-generated images are all over the internet, and a new study warns that it is no laughing matter.
Shrimp Jesus swamps Facebook in scam plague
Do we need labelling laws for content? Bizarre AI-generated images are all over the internet, and a new study warns that it is no laughing matter.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper">What's happening?</h2>
Depending on how you look at it, the images are brilliantly surrealStrange, like a dream. or deeply disturbing. They show Jesus with scaly claws or lying down next to small crustaceansCreatures with segmented bodies and limbs and armour-like exoskeletons. They include lobsters, crabs and prawns.. This is the latest internet phenomenonSomething that is observed to exist. - Shrimp Jesus.
Experts in the US have made a study of AI-created images like these. One picture got 40 million views, putting it in Facebook's top 20 for last summer.
The experts warn that AI pictures are not just being created for fun, that the fact they can be made cheaply and quite easily, makes the technology appealing to spammersPeople or organisations that send unwanted emails. and scammerspeople who trick others out of money, often online.
In fact, says one expert, hundreds of AI-generated spamAn unrequested image sent by email. pages are posting dozens of times a day, and these posts are being rewarded by Facebook's recommendation algorithmAny set of rules followed by a computer. In the context of social media, "the algorithm" refers to the intelligent AI that learns the interests of the user and presents them with posts that it thinks will interest them..
Though the Jesus Shrimp pictures were obviously faked, comments on others show that not everybody realises that they are not real.
The people who created the images often add a comment such as "I made this with my own hands". DupedTricked or deceived. users then like the post, and as a result the algorithm sends them more, similar images.
The images sometimes come with links to pages where viewers are persuaded to buy non-existent products or share their personal details.
While some people believe the images are real and might then be fooled in other ways, by political misinformationIncorrect or misleading information unintentionally presented as fact. It can be contrasted with disinformation or deliberate lies., for example, others might go the other way and believe that real pictures and information are fake.
Facebook and Meta have said that they are creating tools to automatically detect AI-created content. But experts believe that they will never be able to spot all fake images.
Do we need labelling laws for content?
Yes! We have such laws for food and medicine; AI-generated content could harm a lot of people, so it should come with a warning.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper">Find out more</h2>
No! Most people are not taken in by these kind of posts, which are really just for fun.
surreal - Strange, like a dream.
Crustaceans - Creatures with segmented bodies and limbs and armour-like exoskeletons. They include lobsters, crabs and prawns.
phenomenon - Something that is observed to exist.
spammers - People or organisations that send unwanted emails.
scammers - people who trick others out of money, often online
spam - An unrequested image sent by email.
Algorithm - Any set of rules followed by a computer. In the context of social media, "the algorithm" refers to the intelligent AI that learns the interests of the user and presents them with posts that it thinks will interest them.
Duped - Tricked or deceived.
Misinformation - Incorrect or misleading information unintentionally presented as fact. It can be contrasted with disinformation or deliberate lies.
Shrimp Jesus swamps Facebook in scam plague

Glossary
surreal - Strange, like a dream.
Crustaceans - Creatures with segmented bodies and limbs and armour-like exoskeletons. They include lobsters, crabs and prawns.
phenomenon - Something that is observed to exist.
spammers - People or organisations that send unwanted emails.
scammers - people who trick others out of money, often online
spam - An unrequested image sent by email.
Algorithm - Any set of rules followed by a computer. In the context of social media, “the algorithm” refers to the intelligent AI that learns the interests of the user and presents them with posts that it thinks will interest them.
Duped - Tricked or deceived.
Misinformation - Incorrect or misleading information unintentionally presented as fact. It can be contrasted with disinformation or deliberate lies.