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AI-generated 'poverty porn' fake images being used by aid agencies

theguardian.com

111–120 of 222 posts

Re: AI-generated 'poverty porn' fake images being used by aid agencies

#111
post #53

> included AI-generated testimony from a Burundian woman describing being raped by three men and left to die in 1993 […] has been taken down, as we believed it shows improper use of AI, and may pose risks regarding information integrity It’s one thing to create an image but creating a whole fake testimony is even worse. Notice they just felt that the tool was evolving “too fast” and it didn’t feel real enough. Once t…

MAY pose a risk to information integrity?

That's a hot take. Any group's credibility is shot if they're fabricating testimonials, never mind that the subject matter is absolutely brutal, manipulative, and exploitive. The whole point of such a thing is to show create human connection to a real problem in the interest of motivating change. What utter bullshit.

Take AI out of this story and pretend that you have groups making up stuff to solicit donations. It's fraud. The AI part just means it was easy to commit.

Re: AI-generated 'poverty porn' fake images being used by aid agencies

#112

I can understand that there are some good arguments for using AI generated pics. Using AI means not having to pay for photographers who'd either have to spend a lot of time taking or staging pictures, and not having to pay for their travel expenses which means that money can be spent on aid instead of marketing. Also it can feel a bit exploitative to photograph vulnerable people, especially children. As long as the i…

But its not... real.

Re: AI-generated 'poverty porn' fake images being used by aid agencies

#113

I was thinking about it, because wife was telling me story from work, where a woman was scammed with AI generated stuff and her colleague was a little too nonchalant about it ( 'it is on her to do her due diligence' ). And it made me annoyed. How can you possibly make due diligence when everyone around you is incentivized to lie? We do have a concept of fraud, but advertising seems to be able to move around its edges…

If you can be beguiled by random images from an unknown solicitor to make rash financial decisions, the root of the problem is probably sitting in front of the screen. "A fool and his money are soon parted" is not a new thing, it's just easier to accomplish than ever before thanks to the dopamine conditioned internet and AI content generation. These victims don't need new legal layers of trust, they need a social med…

I have met multiple cybersecurity experts, and they really were experts and in general very intelligent and knowledgeable people, that have fallen for very obvious scams. One of them was one of those gift card scams which in my eyes is possibly the most obvious one.

I myself have almost fallen for a well crafted phishing attack, the only reason I never ended up putting in my card details was that I was technical enough to know that a generic URL with no query params can't possibly have my tracking code pre-filled on a page I've never been to before. Had the scammers just made me enter my own tracking code, or if I didn't know what a query param is, I 100% would've fallen for it.

My point is that no one is immune to a momentary lapse in judgement or just plain bad luck. You can be an expert, extremely intelligent, whatever, all it takes is 5 minutes of weakness to get you, whether that's because you slept bad, had something else on your mind, weren't being diligent enough (it's impossible to be diligent 24/7 after all) or any other myriad list of reasons.

It's easy to put the blame on the victims here, but with generative AI the line between reality and fabrication is getting thinner and thinner. I'm a massive AI skeptic (just check my comments here), but I'm 100% positive that sooner or later we'll hit a stage where it's quite literally impossible to discern an AI fabrication from a real event unless you witnessed it in person yourself. You won't be able to trust images, or audio or even videos of your loved ones unless you basically see them send it to you, and even then there's no guarantee the final footage isn't doctored by the phone in some way.

So sure, people need to smarten up a bit, but we also need to start thinking about these problematic issues with AI sooner rather than later, cause things are only going to get worse, and fast.

Re: AI-generated 'poverty porn' fake images being used by aid agencies

#115

I was thinking about it, because wife was telling me story from work, where a woman was scammed with AI generated stuff and her colleague was a little too nonchalant about it ( 'it is on her to do her due diligence' ). And it made me annoyed. How can you possibly make due diligence when everyone around you is incentivized to lie? We do have a concept of fraud, but advertising seems to be able to move around its edges…

We used to live in a high trust society but since the breakdown of international barriers western countries are becoming low trust.

Re: AI-generated 'poverty porn' fake images being used by aid agencies

#116

I can understand that there are some good arguments for using AI generated pics. Using AI means not having to pay for photographers who'd either have to spend a lot of time taking or staging pictures, and not having to pay for their travel expenses which means that money can be spent on aid instead of marketing. Also it can feel a bit exploitative to photograph vulnerable people, especially children. As long as the i…

Take AI out of the conversation. Now revisit the argument that it's OK for people to make fake pics, testimonials, stories, and videos to solicit donations. I'm pretty sure that's just called a con or perhaps fraud in legal terms.

Re: AI-generated 'poverty porn' fake images being used by aid agencies

#117

I was thinking about it, because wife was telling me story from work, where a woman was scammed with AI generated stuff and her colleague was a little too nonchalant about it ( 'it is on her to do her due diligence' ). And it made me annoyed. How can you possibly make due diligence when everyone around you is incentivized to lie? We do have a concept of fraud, but advertising seems to be able to move around its edges…

You should be distrustful of every emotion generated by a mass media campaign. They're all artificial, and generated for the benefit of the person running the campaign, not you. It's still possible to function, it's just that you have to go out and seek information, and usually seek information through channels where the organization is not delivering it to you. Every non-profit files a Form 990 with the IRS, and eve…

I would like you to think through this statement and then carefully apply it what today's publicly facing technology can do. If TikTok proved anything, it is that masses of people can be influenced to do feel, think and act in accordance with desired goals.

One could argue that if it is already this bad, maybe it should e reined in a tiny wee bit?

Oh no man. The feelings are real. They are generated under false pretenses, but the feelings are real. Honestly, I am not sure if people running those campaigns realize that all those feelings may eventually be turned against them.

How come it is not fraudster that 'has to'?

Re: AI-generated 'poverty porn' fake images being used by aid agencies

#118
post #34

It’s really showing the real picture of all the aid agencies. They aim for your money. That’s the single purpose. Because they can’t provide photo documentation of they work on the site where apparently the aid happened. So sad. And many people fall for this scam.

What reason did you have to write that? The focus you put on "taking your money" in combination with "scam" suggest you think the aid is not real, or not merited.

Re: AI-generated 'poverty porn' fake images being used by aid agencies

#119

I was thinking about it, because wife was telling me story from work, where a woman was scammed with AI generated stuff and her colleague was a little too nonchalant about it ( 'it is on her to do her due diligence' ). And it made me annoyed. How can you possibly make due diligence when everyone around you is incentivized to lie? We do have a concept of fraud, but advertising seems to be able to move around its edges…

We used to live in a high trust society but since the breakdown of international barriers western countries are becoming low trust.

Eastern cultures say the same thing about the influence of the West. Ha!

Re: AI-generated 'poverty porn' fake images being used by aid agencies

#120

I was thinking about it, because wife was telling me story from work, where a woman was scammed with AI generated stuff and her colleague was a little too nonchalant about it ( 'it is on her to do her due diligence' ). And it made me annoyed. How can you possibly make due diligence when everyone around you is incentivized to lie? We do have a concept of fraud, but advertising seems to be able to move around its edges…

> her colleague was a little too nonchalant about it ( 'it is on her to do her due diligence' ). I’m always fascinated by victim blaming culture, which has been pervasive long before generative AI. You see it most frequently in cases where the victim is thought to be a safe target: Someone wealthier, an office rival, a corporation. On HN it appears in every thread about someone being scammed, but it was most obvious…

Sadly, a large number of people seem to think "caveat emptor" is some kind of optimal default way to live and organize a society. Like, anyone should be able to do or say anything, and if the counterparty doesn't do their due diligence, they're gullible and deserve to lose.
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