A viral photo of a guy smoking in McDonald's is completely fake — and of course made by AI

Technology@lemmy.world – 251 points – 7 months ago

A viral photo of a guy smoking in McDonald's is completely fake — and of course made by AI::Look at the fingers. You always have to look at the fingers

Am I the only one that's seeing this pic for the first time?

Same. Not sure why it would go viral.

Exactly my thought. Looks pretty boring and not something I would consider sharing even if it was a single button push.

Yeah, and 5 years ago, this would have at least been a somewhat interesting slice-of-life picture. Now it's just bullshit. This could just as well be Mozart smoking a fat one at a McCleopatra's in feudal China. It would be just as a meaningful.

It was posted in some community on Lemmy. I saw it in my feed but don't remember where.

I spend an embarrassingly stupid amount of time on the internet.

Every time I see an article describing something as "viral", it's almost always the first time I'm hearing about it. (Also, coincidentally often the last time)

“Viral” is completely meaningless now.

4 more...

Or the sign at the top.

"MODLIDANI"

Or the fact that he's apparently cut the chest out of his t-shirt, while his vest doesn't wrap around his torso.

As someone who grew up in a white trash landfill, that's probably the least suspicious thing

I was thinking that. The first time I saw this I didn't look closely and thought "yes, this is pretty much how I remember it, except I'd be scared that guy was going to ash out his cigarette in my burger and slap me on the back of the head as he leaves because he's probably one of my cousins".

I only learned it was fake today, from this post. I mean, I see all the little details now, but before I just assumed someone found an old picture of their dad and wanted some internet points. There's part of me that sees the humor in gettin got, but it's a nervous laugh for how easily I got got. Near future's gonna be wild

This is 100% accurate.

It was the fashion at the time /s

Right... at the time...

Puts down scissors and undershirt

Leg warmers are back.

I think that's pretty bad ass actually.

gigachad

Don't underestimate the ability of someone selling denim jackets with white t-shirt sleeves sewn into them.

Nicely done, that's hilarious. The current state of "AI" is deeply embarrassing and massively over-hyped. Maybe a few trillion more dollars of funding will do the trick...

And drinking a refreshing Ç̷̧̡̢̧̧̙͓̮̮͖͎̱̤̳̙̺͍̺̜͇̠̯̗̼̯͍̖͈̝͎͙͓̦̞̝͙̺̼̗̘̲̙̮̺̪̹̪̗͓͍̳̲̼͈̖͗͑̾̈́̓̀͗̈́͜͜͝͝ͅͅơ̸̧̡̢̧̢̨̛̛̛̙̟̦͓̜̯̖̬̩̙͚̭͚̱͓̫͖̙̮̪̗̜̗̻̬͖̝̖͉̩̻̺͇̲̩̦͍͚̝̐̾͆̾̃̓́͋͑̀͑́̆̌̒͂̍̎̊̂̓̆̔̀͗̉̄̍̒̎́̒͊͛͌̑̒̽̿̇̀̅̊̄͆̊̈̿̀̂̓̈́͌͛̃͑͑͊̚̚̚̕͜͝͝͝͝͝ͅk̶̢̨̢̛̛̛̮̻͕̱͙̰̬̟͕̝̪̮̥͎̪̻͇̣̼͚͍̲̪͙̗̹̱̺̆͑͐̈́͛̏̽͐̿́̈́͗̽̏̔̋͊̀̅̽́̀̿̓̉͐͊͊̐̍̆̎̍̀͒̋̈́̔̿̔́͑̽̔́͛̾̂͑̈́̔̈́͌̍̈̄͛̍͐͐̈́̃͌̄̋̈́́̌̓̉̇̿̀̀̚̚͘̚͜͜͜͜͠͝͠ę̶̡̛͚͓̲̼͈̭͚̙̼͕̮̙̫̖͓̜̣͕̠̞̫̗͙̥͚̣̣̲̫̜̟͔̯̫̩̼̤̅͒̌̍̑̀̇͂̄͗̀̊̄̅̔̔͗̂̾̉̓̐͗̋͗͊̀̏̇͛̊̏̃̌͌́̈͋̑̒͒̈͌̈́͑̂̈͋̎̑̓̊̀́̐̚̚͜͝͠͝͝͠͝a̸̢̡̢̧̧̤̜̰̠̩̯͙͔̖̳̳̩̘̥͙͙̙̬̦̺̗̝͛́̍̓̇́̀͆͑͜ć̴̡̨̧̛̖̱̥̙̳͓̤̻̑͐̅̑̏̐͊͒̾̎́͗̋̎̈́͐̌̇̓͆̓̒͐̔̄́̂̊͑̒̉͑͑͂́͛͋͒̊͋̓̓̀͂͒̎͋͋̎̽́͋̀̏͒̒̿̒̽̂̔̂̀̅͂̋͐̋̈̀̿̿́̍̕̚͝͝͠͝͠͝͝͝͠ơ̸̢̨̨̢̲͚̤͖͇̦̯͓͍̤͈̹̖̞͕̗̬̮͔͚͙͎̩̣͓̹͎͚͈̖̚͜l̴̨̢̧̡̢̢̢̡̨̢̧̛̺̳̭̘͙̬͙͖̬̲̠͔͈͎͇̠̼̘̗̭̤̥̖̭̻͎̱͈͓̲̺̬̫̤̻̙̮̬̯̻͖͇͔̹̩̟̰̣͙̫͎̤͔̼̩͙̬̖̟̪̤͇̟̫̭̳͙͈͇̮̞͕̰̮̙̪̳̟͈̿́͌̀̄̽͗̄̄̆͑̔͊̈̊͌̄͒͋̎̓͐͂̀͛̊͊̐͂̀̽̒̂̊̔̆̏̌̍͛̾̉̽̑̾̋̅͛̌̆̎͛͑̉͑̕̕̕̚͜͠͝͠å̸̧̧̨̨̛̛̛͍̖̗̲͙̝̜̲̪͖̟̬̱̜̜͚̳̻͉͎̪̩͎͈̟̻̫̟͖̲̤̜̥̮̝̗̳͖͕̻̞̙̳̤͚̹̳͍̭͔̤̼͍̬̼̌̒̔͂̈͆̆͒͂͌̄͗̌̆̉̀̉̽́͂̔̆͂̽̌̈́̏́̿͋͂̎́͛̑͛̐͗̋̑̀̃̀̇̎͛̊̇̆͊̏͗͂̋̒̎͛͆̅͑̀̿̎̉͊͑̍̚̚͘̕͘͘͜͠͠͝͝͝͝͝ͅͅ

That was the second thing I saw. The first was the weird fries box with a straw, heh

You don't get the limited edition fry box and drink the salt out of the bottom?

Man, I was alive during the '80s but missed my chance.

At least that looks like letters. Check out the Coca-Cola cup.

I think we need AI generated protest signs to hang from bridges just to mess with people.

I guess nobody much tried to see if it was fake or not because it was mundane enough to not matter and believable enough because there was a million people like this guy smoking in McDonald's in the 80's. My great grandma was a chain smoker. Literally all the time. I remembe going to McDonald's for lunch in the 80's and sitting there eating while she chews and smokes at the same time.

So there was no reason to suspect or care about it being a real pic.

Looking at the photo knowing it is AI generated, I can definitely see all of the imperfections, however for someone who is just scrolling looking at stuff and not really paying attention, it's easily passable. And I think that's a huge problem, especially with Sora being a thing, you won't be able to believe anything you see on the internet ever again.

I'd even take it further and I'd bet that there are going to be movies made in the future that will brag about how they didn't use AI in the production. This shit is wild

It's a nail in the coffin to know the world wide webs golden age won't have a resurgence and that you'll no longer be able to believe or trust anything you watch, read, or hear, pretty soon.

Lets see:

Straw in the fries container
Chest hair growing thru his shirt
"Cocacola" text on the mug
His hands and those hamburgers
MODLIDANI sign on the wall
The heck is that white hat on that dude on the background

You’ve never heard of the fishing hat that dreamed of being a baseball hat?

That's not hair growing through the shirt that's simply a bare chest. AI can paint both shirt and chest just fine, but doesn't understand garments, doesn't understand that if you have t-shirt sleeves you don't have a bare chest. Could happen with a dress shirt but then the collar is missing: It's denim-on-skin in the chest and neck area which the AI can easily make consistent because it's continuous, then shirt-and-denim on the shoulders, which also makes sense. It's the combination that doesn't.

exposed chest hair with t-shirt
straw in fries
hat
Smoking inside restaurant

You blame AI, but that's just the 80s.

First thing to look for is the hands

AI generated or not, I distinctly remember the brown glass ashtrays as McDonalds when I was growing up, so it definitely was allowed.

You had some fancy-ass McDonald's in your area then. Ours has those flimsy tin/aluminum ashtrays.

Most places near me still have what obviously were smoking sections.

AI or not, this looks unnervingly accurate enough to be one of my uncles in the 80s, including the open chest denim vest sewn onto a tshirt. The 80s was wild, kids.

As much as this is a fake image, I wish this man was me

Don't let your dreams be dreams. I believe in you.

Born too late to smoke in McDonald's 😔

This is technically another jean meme

Looknat them fingers! When the coca cola logo looks like a CAPTCHA test and the guy is eating food off the table

Also, as was pointed out in the original post a few days ago, the booth in the left part of the background makes no sense in relationship with both the table, and the guy in the right part of the background. Those tables wouldn't be laid out like that. Also guy in the right background has a capcha face, and the person in the way back has no face. No ashtrays, they had brown glass or yellow tin ashtrays. Also, what's up with his shirt? Sleeves, but no collar, and apparently no chest piece.

Is that a straw instead of French fries?

I saw those things, and yet, sadly, my brain was still trying to make sense of it all, rather than saying "yo, Bear, this image is all kinds of fucked up, probably not real".

And I'm a cynical, suspicious bastard. We're fucking doomed.

I mean it’s super obviously AI generated, what with the yellow fry box with white sides, and red coke cup with gibberish on it. He has a second white cup behind his hands seemingly floating in mid-air, and his hands are together holding… nothing. There’s a sign in the background that seems to say “Modlidawi” instead of “McDonald’s”

And he’s also wearing a t shirt which apparently doesn’t have a chest since you can see this dudes naked chest.

Lots of inconsistencies in the photo. AI doesn’t do a very good job. If you look hard enough you’ll see shit that makes zero real world sense.

Article: "If you take a closer look at the photo..."

Buddy, you don't even have to look that close. The hat of the dude in the background draws your eye immediately, quickly followed by the fries and all the shit going on on that table.

The average person has exactly zero skill at looking at picture details, it's a thing you develop as an artist and then need to consciously break by flipping the image, tilting your head etc. to look at the whole composition again.

The average artist also won't notice when a cow's horns are above their ears (instead of above in front) because they haven't seen a reference cow in ages, and never specialised in drawing (or whatever) cows. The average person without artistic eye does not even have the impulse to zoom in on that kind of thing and literally won't see the little brown hat you put there, you'd have to make it pink for them to ever notice.

Honestly, I don't see anything really wrong with that hat. The back rim looks a bit strange but that might just be because it's a strange hat, and I'm certainly not fashion-conscious enough to spot that it's an anachronism.

The hands and writing are clearly messed up and pretty much the first thing you should have a look at when figuring out whether something is AI. If this wasn't a "photograph" though but an illustration you might also look at a shitty or lazy human artist in many cases. In this case there's a dead AI giveaway as humans would never make that kind of mistake: The shirt. T-shirt sleeves but bare chest? How does that work? Shirt and vest and chest are painted very well, the AI did a good job at the details, thing is it doesn't understand how garments actually work and that the combination of details doesn't make sense.

Or, in short: (current) AIs are quite good at overall composition and lighting, may or may not have their issues with smaller details depending on the detail, and have lots of trouble enforcing consistency on details that aren't directly adjacent to each other. You'll also see things like e.g. the lines of a dunno column being discontinuous at the spots where it moves from background to invisible (because foreground before it).

Many models have gotten quite good at hands (especially SDXL), unless you're trying to do something complicated with fingers grasping into each other and stuff it'll probably get it right. But the list of these things is endless, you'll e.g. see PC keyboards with seven rows of keys. So look at what you know you know (and I don't know jackshit about hat fashion), and check it.

On another note: It's good that the people putting out those kinds of fakes seem to have zero artistic skill. Without AI, with good ole photo manipulation by an actual artist, spotting a fake could be close to impossible. Generating flawless photographs with current AI is also a crapshoot, you'll end up sifting through a gazillion of possibilities, illustrations are way easier because you can explain things away by "yeah it doesn't need to be accurate in that detail, just give off the right impression". If you want a convincing fake you'll still need an actual artist manipulating actual pixels to fix up the AI mistakes.

Finnnnnnnngers