In the last few hours, a photo of Pope Francis dressed in a long, completely white puffer-style jacket went viral. The image surprised users who immediately began to question its veracity.
In the photo, in addition, the Pontiff is seen with a long chain and a large crucifix, much more than he usually uses on a daily basis. Among the hundreds of comments, there were those who praised the look that he chose for the cold afternoon in the Vatican.
The truth behind the viral photo of Pope Francis
Although it has very good quality and looks real, the truth is that it is an image created with Artificial Intelligence (AI) through the midjourney application and was published on a subreddit on Friday before it went viral on Twitter.
A few months ago, Pope Francis himself issued a warning about the use of AI and pointed out that technological advances are “at the service of the common good of all and the care of the common home.”
The Pontiff also highlighted that “it is increasingly present in all aspects of daily life, both personal and social, it affects the way we understand the world and ourselves, it is increasingly present not only in the debate public, but also in the development of technical solutions.
After the image of the Pope went viral, the memes exploded
After the image went viral and its origin was known, users began to play with Photoshop and the memes did not wait.
