Amnesty Halts Use of AI-Created Images Depicting Colombian Protests After Backlash

Amnesty International Retracts Images Produced by AI for Its Campaign on Police Brutality in Colombia

Human rights advocacy group Amnesty International has retracted images produced by artificial intelligence for its campaign on police brutality in Colombia during the national protests of 2021. The decision to retract the images came after the group received widespread online criticism for using AI-generated images on its social media accounts. One of the images, in particular, was singled out by The Guardian on May 2.

Controversy over the Use of AI-Generated Images

The use of AI to generate images for the campaign by Amnesty International has been a subject of controversy. The group received criticism for the use of AI-generated images, which were deemed inaccurate and misleading. The images did not reflect the reality of the protests and contained several discrepancies.

Discrepancies in the AI-Generated Images

The images generated by AI for Amnesty International’s campaign on police brutality in Colombia during the 2021 national protests were found to have several discrepancies. A closer look at the images revealed the following:

• Uncanny-looking faces
• Dated police uniforms
• A protester wrapped in a flag that is not the correct flag of Colombia

The bottom of each image also carried a disclaimer stating that the images were produced by an AI.

Amnesty International’s Defense of Using AI-Generated Images

Despite the controversy, Amnesty International defended its decision to use AI to generate images for the campaign. The group stated that it chose to use AI to protect protesters from possible state retribution. Erika Guevara Rosas, the director for the Americas at Amnesty, said:

The Increasing Use of AI in Generating Images and Visual Media

AI is increasingly being used to generate images and visual media. In late April, HustleGPT founder Dave Craige posted a video of the United States Republican Party using AI-generated imagery in its political campaign. The use of AI in generating images is expected to increase, and concerns have been raised about its potential to be used to spread misinformation and propaganda. Media scholar Roland Meyer commented on the deleted images, stating that “image synthesis reproduces and reinforces visual stereotypes almost by default,” adding that they were “ultimately nothing more than propaganda.”