Claim: An image of a Portuguese football player, Cristiano Ronaldo, carved on limestone, was shared on the Facebook page of GOAL Africa with the assertion that it was made by a “young lad” who appeared in the image.
Verdict: The claim is false. The image was generated using AI.
Full Text
The Facebook page of Goal Africa, an online website dedicated to football-related activities, posted an image of Portuguese star Christiano Ronaldo, claiming he was carved into a limestone by a young lad, who also appeared in the image.
The post garnered 96,000 likes, 2,100 comments and 1,600 shares. Comments under the post showed mixed reactions, as some believed the kid had made the statue while others pointed out it was AI-generated.
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“This is very commendable of him,” Henry Akisikpo commented.
Akisikpo also encouraged social media users to draw Ronaldo’s attention to the image so he could help the boy.
“Who knows if that can change the lad’s life trajectory,” he added.
Confused about the origin of the image, Victor Joshua Jnr wondered if the image was generated using AI. He added that the world is crumbling as it is hard to know what is real and not.
However, Ahmad Adam was surprised at the naivety of those who felt the image was real, saying, “I don’t know why y’all are so gullible to realise that this is just an AI-generated image.”
DUBAWA decided to investigate this claim due to its potential to misinform the public.
Verification
DUBAWA conducted a Google Reverse Image Search. The results showed that the image was shared on several online platforms.
Through the same process, DUBAWA traced the source of the image to a Facebook page that posts AI-generated sculptures of celebrities and world leaders. Though the page did not specifically state that it is dedicated to the production of AI images, a search through the images posted on the page showed the same patterns of sculptures with purported creators, mostly young kids, standing by its side.
Also, most of the generated images have the same caption: “Amazing Young Boy (Amazing Artwork).”
The image was also subjected to analysis by AI detection tools. Hive AI showed that the image is 99 percent AI-generated, while ‘Is it AI’ indicated the image has a 90.72 percent chance of being AI-generated.
Conclusion
The statue of Cristiano Ronaldo was created using AI. It was not carved by a boy.
This report is produced for the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame Karikari Fact-Checking Fellowship in partnership with the Daily Trust Newspaper to facilitate the ethos of truth in journalism and enhance media literacy in Nigeria.
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