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AI image misinformation has surged, Google researchers find

Fake images generated by artificial intelligence have proliferated so quickly that they’re now nearly as common as those manipulated by text or traditional editing tools like Photoshop, according to researchers at Google and several fact-checking organizations.

The findings offer an indication of just how quickly the technology has been embraced by people seeking to spread false information. But researchers warned that AI is still just one way in which pictures are used to mislead the public — the most common continues to be real images taken out of context.

In a paper released online this month but not yet peer-reviewed, the researchers tracked misinformation trends by analyzing nearly 136,000 fact-checks dating back to 1995, with the majority of them published after 2016 and ending in November 2023. They found that AI accounted for very little image-based misinformation until spring of 2023, right around when fake photos of Pope Francis in a puffer coat went viral.

“The sudden prominence of AI-generated content in fact checked misinformation claims suggests a rapidly changing landscape,” the researchers wrote.

The lead researchers and representatives for Google did not comment in time for publication.

Alexios Mantzarlis, who first flagged and reviewed the latest research in his newsletter, Faked Up , said the democratization of generative AI tools has made it easy for almost anyone to spread false information online.

“We go through waves of technological advancements that shock us in their capacity to manipulate and alter reality, and we are going through one now,” said Mantzarlis, who is the director of the Security, Trust, and Safety Initiative at Cornell Tech, Cornell University’s graduate campus in New York City. “The question is, how quickly can we adapt? And then, what safeguards can we put in place to avoid their harms?”

We go through waves of technological advancements that shock us in their capacity to manipulate and alter reality, and we are going through one now.

-Alexios Mantzarlis, director of the Security, Trust, and Safety Initiative at Cornell Tech

The researchers found that about 80% of fact-checked misinformation claims involve media such as images and video, with video increasingly dominating those claims since 2022.

Even with AI, the study found that real images paired with false claims about what they depict or imply continue to spread without the need for AI or even photo-editing. 

“While AI-generated images did not cause content manipulations to overtake context manipulations, our data collection ended in late 2023 and this may have changed since,” the researchers wrote. “Regardless, generative-AI images are now a sizable fraction of all misinformation-associated images.”

Text is also a component in about 80% of all image-based misinformation, most commonly seen in screenshots.

“We were surprised to note that such cases comprise the majority of context manipulations,” the paper stated. “These images are highly shareable on social media platforms, as they don’t require that the individual sharing them replicate the false context claim themselves: they’re embedded in the image.”

Cayce Myers, a public relations professor and graduate studies director at Virginia Tech’s School of Communication, said context manipulations can be even harder to detect than AI-generated images because they already look authentic.

“In that sense, that’s a much more insidious problem,” Myers, who reviewed the recent findings prior to being interviewed, said. “Because if you have, let’s say, a totally AI-generated image that someone can look at and say, ‘That doesn’t look quite right,’ that’s a lot different than seeing an actual image that is captioned in a way that is misrepresenting what the image is of.”

Even AI-based misinformation, however, is quickly growing harder to detect as technology advances. Myers said traditional hallmarks of an AI-generated image — abnormalities such as misshapen hands, garbled text or a dog with five legs — have diminished “tremendously” since these tools first became widespread.

Earlier this month, during the Met Gala, two viral AI-generated images of Katy Perry (who wasn’t at the event) looked so realistic at first glance that even her mom mistakenly thought the singer was in attendance.

And while the study stated AI models aren’t typically trained to generate images like screenshots and memes, it’s possible they will quickly learn to reliably produce those types of images as new iterations of advanced language models continue to roll out.

To reliably distinguish misinformation as AI tools grow more sophisticated, Mantzarlis said people will have to learn to question the content’s source or distributor rather than the visuals themselves.

“The content alone is no longer going to be sufficient for us to make an assessment of truthfulness of trustworthiness veracity,” Mantzarlis said. “I think you need to have the full context: Who shared it with you? How was it shared? How do you know it was them?”

But the study noted that relying solely on fact-checked claims doesn’t capture the whole scope of misinformation out there, as it’s often the images that go viral that end up being fact checked. It also relied only on misinformation claims made in English. This leaves out many lesser-viewed or non-English pieces of misinformation that float unchecked in the wild.

Still, Mantzarlis said he believes the study reflects a “good sample” of English-language misinformation cases online, particularly those that have reached a substantial enough audience for fact-checkers to take notice.

For Myers, the bigger limitation affecting any study on disinformation — especially in the age of AI — will be the fast-changing nature of the disinformation itself.

“The problem for people who are looking at how to get a handle on disinformation is that it’s an evolving technological reality,” Myers said. “And capturing that is difficult, because what you study in May of 2024 may already be a very different reality in June of 2024.”

Angela Yang is a culture and trends reporter for NBC News.

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Ozempic Cuts Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease Complications, Study Finds

A major clinical trial showed such promising results that the drug’s maker halted it early.

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By Dani Blum

Dani Blum has reported on Ozempic and similar drugs since 2022.

Semaglutide, the compound in the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy , dramatically reduced the risk of kidney complications, heart issues and death in people with Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease in a major clinical trial, the results of which were published on Friday. The findings could transform how doctors treat some of the sickest patients with chronic kidney disease, which affects more than one in seven adults in the United States but has no cure.

“Those of us who really care about kidney patients spent our whole careers wanting something better,” said Dr. Katherine Tuttle, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and an author of the study. “And this is as good as it gets.” The research was presented at a European Renal Association meeting in Stockholm on Friday and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine .

The trial, funded by Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk, was so successful that the company stopped it early . Dr. Martin Holst Lange, Novo Nordisk’s executive vice president of development, said that the company would ask the Food and Drug Administration to update Ozempic’s label to say it can also be used to reduce the progression of chronic kidney disease or complications in people with Type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes is a leading cause of chronic kidney disease, which occurs when the kidneys don’t function as well as they should. In advanced stages, the kidneys are so damaged that they cannot properly filter blood. This can cause fluid and waste to build up in the blood, which can exacerbate high blood pressure and raise the risk of heart disease and stroke, said Dr. Subramaniam Pennathur, the chief of the nephrology division at Michigan Medicine.

The study included 3,533 people with kidney disease and Type 2 diabetes, about half of whom took a weekly injection of semaglutide, and half of whom took a weekly placebo shot.

Researchers followed up with participants after a median period of around three and a half years and found that those who took semaglutide had a 24 percent lower likelihood of having a major kidney disease event, like losing at least half of their kidney function, or needing dialysis or a kidney transplant. There were 331 such events among the semaglutide group, compared with 410 in the placebo group.

People who received semaglutide were much less likely to die from cardiovascular issues, or from any cause at all, and had slower rates of kidney decline.

Kidney damage often occurs gradually, and people typically do not show symptoms until the disease is in advanced stages. Doctors try to slow the decline of kidney function with existing medications and lifestyle modifications, said Dr. Melanie Hoenig, a nephrologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center who was not involved with the study. But even with treatment, the disease can progress to the point that patients need dialysis, a treatment that removes waste and excess fluids from the blood, or kidney transplants.

The participants in the study were extremely sick — the severe complications seen in some study participants are more likely to occur in people the later stages of chronic kidney disease, said Dr. George Bakris, a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago Medicine and an author of the study. Most participants in the trial were already taking medication for chronic kidney disease.

For people with advanced kidney disease, in particular, the findings are promising. “We can help people live longer,” said Dr. Vlado Perkovic, a nephrologist and renal researcher at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and another author of the study.

While the data shows clear benefits, even the researchers studying drugs like Ozempic aren’t sure how, exactly, they help the kidneys. One leading theory is that semaglutide may reduce inflammation, which exacerbates kidney disease.

And the results come with several caveats: Roughly two-thirds of the participants were men and around two-thirds were white — a limitation of the study, the authors noted, because chronic kidney disease disproportionately affects Black and Indigenous patients. The trial participants taking semaglutide were more likely to stop the drug because of gastrointestinal issues, which are common side effects of Ozempic.

Doctors said they wanted to know whether the drug might benefit patients who have kidney disease but not diabetes, and some also had questions about the potential long-term risks of taking semaglutide.

Still, the results are the latest data to show that semaglutide can do more than treat diabetes or drive weight loss. In March, the F.D.A. authorized Wegovy for reducing the risk of cardiovascular issues in some patients. And scientists are examining semaglutide and tirzepatide, the compound in the rival drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, for a range of other conditions , including sleep apnea and liver disease.

If the F.D.A. approves the new use, it could drive even more demand for Ozempic, which has faced recurrent shortages .

“I think it’s a game changer,” Dr. Hoenig said, “if I can get it for my patients.”

Dani Blum is a health reporter for The Times. More about Dani Blum

A Close Look at Weight-Loss Drugs

Reduced Disease Complications: Semaglutide, the compound in Ozempic and Wegovy, dramatically reduced the risk of kidney complications , heart issues and death in people with Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease in a major clinical trial.

Supplement Stores: GNC and the Vitamin Shoppe are redesigning displays and taking other steps  to appeal to people who are taking or are interested in drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.

Senate Investigation: A Senate committee is investigating the prices that Novo Nordisk charges  for Ozempic and Wegovy, which are highly effective at treating diabetes and obesity but carry steep price tags.

A Company Remakes Itself: Novo Nordisk’s factories work nonstop turning out Ozempic and Wegovy , but the Danish company has far bigger ambitions.

Transforming a Small Danish Town: In Kalundborg, population under 17,000, Novo Nordisk is making huge investments to increase production  of Ozempic and Wegovy.

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The National Archives holds a wealth of records documenting Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) individuals. These records, created by federal agencies across a wide range of topics, capture the rich history and diversity of AAPI communities, as well as the challenges and triumphs they have faced.

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National Archives News : Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Hoover Heads blog: " Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: Not Quite American " (2018)

Pieces of History blog: " Asian/Pacific American History: Learning Our Legacy " (2020)

The Text Message blog: " The Past is the Present in the Asian American/Pacific Islander Records Aggregation Project " (2021)

The Text Message blog: " Honoring Notable Asian Pacific Americans for APA Heritage Month " (2019)

History Hub: “ 1950 Census: Language Barriers with Chicago's Chinese Community ”

History Hub: “ 1950 Census: Form P80, 1950 Census of Population – American Samoa ”

History Hub: “ 1950 Census: Form P85, 1950 Census of Population – Guam ”

History Hub: “ 1950 Census: Form P87, 1950 Census of Population and Housing – Hawaii ”

Reference Information Papers

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A Guide to Records of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders at the National Archives and Records Administration Pacific Region—San Francisco, 2004 ( Reference Information Paper 111 )

Chinese Immigration and Chinese in the United States: Records in the Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1996 ( Reference Information Paper 99 )

Records in the National Archives at San Francisco for the Study of Ethnic History, 1994 ( Reference Information Paper 83 )

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