A photo showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi looking through a microscope in an incorrect manner is being shared on social media.
The claim: Social media users are sharing the photo saying that if any Opposition leader had used a microscope incorrectly, it would have made headlines. However, it was not happening since it was PM Modi in the photo.
An archive of this post can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
The claim is viral on Facebook.
(Archives of more such claims on social media can be seen here, here and here.)
Is it true?: No, the photo has been made using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The person who created the photo shared it with a caption mentioning that they had used the AI tool Midjourney to make this image.
How did we find out?: We ran a reverse image search on the viral photo.
This led us to an article by India.com which published the same photo in an article on 9 April.
According to this article, Modi's photograph was created using an AI tool.
The image was credited to an Instagram account with the username 'sahixd'.
We also noticed a watermark with the text 'Sahid' on the image.
We noticed a watermark on the image.
(Source: India.com/Altered by The Quint)
Taking a cue from this, we looked for the profile on Instagram.
Here, we came across a profile with the username 'sahixd' whose bio mentioned that they were a "digital creator" who makes AI-generated images.
The profile's bio mentions "digital creator."
(Source: Instagram/Altered by The Quint)
On this profile, we found many photos of PM Modi wearing different clothes depicting different professions, along with the one in the viral claim.
The photo's caption mentioned that the photos were created using Midjourney AI, an AI tool.
The creator mentioned that the images were created using AI.
(Source: Instagram/Altered by The Quint)
The Quint has reached out to the creator and will update this story if and when a response is received.
What is Midjourney?: Midjourney AI is an AI tool which generates images based on keyword prompts.
The Quint's WebQoof has previously debunked misinformation based on AI-generated images, which were created using Midjourney. You can read them here and here.
Conclusion: The photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi using a microscope incorrectly was created using an AI tool and is not real.
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