Recently, a photo of Selena Gomez’s appearance at the Met Gala-2023 held on May 1 was referred to as an AI-generated image by several media outlets, including the New York Post.
Various media reports, including international media are claiming the photo of Selena Gomez was geney by AI New York Post (archive), Twitter post of The New York Post here (archive), Torontosun (archive) Entrepreneur (archive), StyleCaster (archive), VanityTeen (archive), Talentrecap (archive).
Indian media reported on that same claim News24 (archive)
On investigation of the claim, there are three other claims found on the internet apart from AI-generated claims. For example:
- Report claiming the photo as Selena Gomez’s real photo Mint (archive). That means Mint is claiming Selena Gomez was physically present in Met Gala 2023.
- The photo was made by using Deepfake technology Metro.co.uk (archive)। [There is certain difference between Deepfake technology and General Photo Editing]
Checkout some Instagram posts on that same claim here(archive), here(archive) and here(archive).
Checkout some Twitter posts here(archive), here(archive) and here(archive).
Fact Check
According to Rumor Scanner Investigation, the image of Selena Gomez is not AI generated rather it was created through a digital image editing process.
Through a reverse image search, a similar image was found on a page of Image sharing website named Getty Images titled as “The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating In America: An Anthology of Fashion” – Arrivals“. According to getty image, The photo was taken by photographer Jeff Kravitz and modelled by actress Lily James in the 2022 Met Gala.
So, the exact same photo was taken in 2022. Moreover, there is no precedent for an image created by artificial intelligence or AI to be exactly the same as any previous image ever taken. That indicates the claimed photo is not AI generated.
Additionally, the New York Post’s Twitter post and their report titled as “AI-generated pic of Selena Gomez at Met Gala goes viral — and she wasn’t even there” claimed the image was AI-generated but their detailed report claimed the image was generated through photoshop.
Additionally, a comparative analysis of the photo of actress Lily James from the 2022 Met Gala and the claimed photo reveals a striking similarity in the background of both photos. Also, the colour of the dress is changed by adding a bluish shade on the original image.
Also, the search found some reports from several fact-checking organisations and media that the image was created through image editing. Checkout the reports here, here and here।
Did Selena Gomez attend the Met Gala this year?
No, Selena Gomez did not attend the Met Gala-2023. Check out some related reports here, here and here.
Basically, Selena Gomez did not attend the Met Gala this year. An edited photo of actress Lily James taken from the 2022 Met Gala has been claimed as Selena Gomez attended this year’s Met Gala. On this claim, several media including the New York Post have published reports referring to the image of Selena Gomez as an AI generated image. But, actually the image is not created using Artificial Intelligence (AI) rather edited through digital technology.
It should be noted that false claims of the presence of several other stars besides Selena Gomez at the 2023 Met Gala have been circulated.
In addition, a report published on May 3 in the UK-based media outlet “Independent.co.uk” claimed that Selena Gomez’s photo was AI generated. The title was later changed again to refer to the image as photoshopped.
Therefore, multiple media reports, including the international media New York Post, are claiming that “Selena Gomez’s photo at this year’s Met Gala was an AI-generated image”; which is completely false.
References
- Getty image: The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating In America: An Anthology of Fashion” – Arrivals
- AFP Fact Check: Manipulated Met Gala images circulate online
- Rumor Scanner Analysis
