AI-Generated Images Shared as Those of IIT-B Students Amid Suicide Case Probe

All four images are AI-generated and do not show real students from IIT Bombay.

A set of AI-generated images are being shared to falsely claim that they show real students studying at IIT-Bombay amid the ongoing probe into 19-year-old Sahil Wakode's death.

(Source: X/Altered by The Quint)

Amid the ongoing probe into the death of 19-year-old Sahil Wakode, a student at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai, who allegedly died by suicide, social media users have shared posts which purportedly carry statements by his peers.

• Four images showing people are being shared online, which claim to carry statements by "topper Priya Mishra" and other unnamed students.

• News organisation Asianet News also shared Mishra's image, and Pune Mirror carried her statement.

Archived versions of these posts can be seen here, here, here, and here.

(Source: X/Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archives of more posts sharing these claims can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: No, while there are several student statements and visuals, each of the images shared in these claims are AI-generated ones.

How did we find out the truth?: A reverse image search on each of the images did not lead us to multiple credible sources sharing the images in question.

• Additionally, keyword searches carried out with the statements made in the posts also returned no credible results confirming their authenticity.

• Due to the lack of evidence supporting the visuals, we ran each of the images through AI-generated content detectors such as Hive Moderation and Sightengine, confirming their source using OpenAI's Verify.

Image 1: 'Topper' Priya Mishra

Hive's tool gave the image a 99.3 percent likelihood of being an AI-generated one, while Sightengine give it a 99 percent score for the same. (Swipe)

(Source: Hive Moderation/Screenshot)

(Source: Sightengine/Screenshot)

OpenAI's Verify confirmed that the image was made using its tools.

(Source: Verify/Screenshot)

Image 2: Sahil's 'friend'

Hive gave this image a near perfect score of being 99.9 percent likely to contain AI-generated or deepfake content, with Sightengine giving it a 99 percent confidence score. (Swipe)

(Source: Hive Moderation/Screenshot)

(Source: Sightengine/Screenshot)

OpenAI's Verify confirmed that the image, too, was made using its tools.

(Source: Verify/Screenshot)

Image 3: Students and Professor

For this image too, Hive was 99.9 percent sure of it being an AI-generated one, while Sightengine continued to give another 99 percent score for the same. (Swipe)

(Source: Hive Moderation/Screenshot)

(Source: Sightengine/Screenshot)

Once again, OpenAI's Verify confirmed that the image was made using its tools.

(Source: Verify/Screenshot)

Image 4: Peer's statement

This image, claiming to show a student in the same course as the deceased, who was also allegedly present in the same class, is also an AI-generated one.

Hive gave this image a 99.9 percent score, while Sightengine gave it a 99 percent score for being an AI-generated image. (Swipe)

(Source: Hive Moderation/Screenshot)

(Source: Sightengine/Screenshot)

OpenAI's Verify noted that its tool had made this image, too.

(Source: Verify/Screenshot)

Conclusion: A set of AI-generated images are being shared on social media, claiming to show IIT-Bombay student statements amid the probe into the alleged death by suicide of Sahil Wakode.

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