Pro-Iran imagery generated by artificial intelligence is proliferating on social media, generating tens of millions of views. The content has seen an uptick in the wake of Israeli and U.S. attacks on the country.
The proliferation of AI-generated photos and videos is blurring the line between fiction and reality, as more people rely on social media sites such as X, Facebook and TikTok for breaking news updates on stories like the war in Iran.
Fake video of Israeli destruction
A video posted to X on June 14, for example, appears to show widespread destruction in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, supposedly caused by Iranian missiles. The post has been viewed more than 1.9 million times.
A disclaimer later added to the post revealed that the footage had been posted on TikTok on May 27 – days before Iran’s retaliatory strikes against Israel – by an account calling itself “Artificial Intelligence Resistance.”
Another AI-produced video on X showed Iranian ballistic missiles being transported out of a mountainside complex. Even though the account sharing the footage labeled itself as a “parody,” the clip amassed more than 2.1 million views.
The post was eventually hit with an AI disclaimer. However, some X users appeared convinced that the footage was legitimate after X’s AI chatbot, Grok deemed it real, the BBC reported.
On June 18, an image purporting to show a downed B-2 bomber, the aircraft used in U.S. airstrikes against Iran, racked up more than 900,000 views on X. The photo, which included an Iranian flag and soldiers next to the damaged plane, was eventually labeled as AI.
Government propaganda
The proliferation of computer-generated content, even when obviously AI, has been normalized by government officials as well.
On June 16, three days after Israel attacked his country, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shared an AI image of missiles being fired from the country alongside verses from the Quran. An Israeli official shared AI-generated propaganda as well, showcasing an image of Khamenei inside a broken egg.
In total, the three most viral AI propaganda videos, according to the BBC, racked up a collective total of more than 100 million views across multiple platforms. One prolific account on X, known as Daily Iran Military, saw its followers double from about 700,000 to 1.4 million in just six days after it released a series of AI videos.
Emmanuelle Saliba, chief investigative officer with the analyst group Get Real, told the BBC that the flood of computer-generated disinformation marks “the first time we’ve seen generative AI be used at scale during a conflict.”
