A viral photo of a guy smoking in McDonald's is completely fake — and of course made by AI (qz.com)
from L4s@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 12:00
https://lemmy.world/post/12592074

A viral photo of a guy smoking in McDonald’s is completely fake — and of course made by AI::Look at the fingers. You always have to look at the fingers

#technology

threaded - newest

jordanlund@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 12:07 next collapse

Or the sign at the top.

“MODLIDANI”

RainfallSonata@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 12:20 next collapse

Or the fact that he’s apparently cut the chest out of his t-shirt, while his vest doesn’t wrap around the back of his torso.

nivenkos@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 12:27 next collapse

It was the fashion at the time /s

AbidanYre@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 16:48 collapse

Right… at the time…

Puts down scissors and undershirt

grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 19:39 collapse

Leg warmers are back.

NeonWoofGenesis@l.henlo.fi on 01 Mar 2024 12:28 next collapse

gigachad

ThrowawaySobriquet@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 12:29 next collapse

As someone who grew up in a white trash landfill, that’s probably the least suspicious thing

grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 12:51 collapse

I was thinking that. The first time I saw this I didn’t look closely and thought “yes, this is pretty much how I remember it, except I’d be scared that guy was going to ash out his cigarette in my burger and slap me on the back of the head as he leaves because he’s probably one of my cousins”.

Jakdracula@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 14:16 next collapse

This is 100% accurate.

ThrowawaySobriquet@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 20:07 collapse

I only learned it was fake today, from this post. I mean, I see all the little details now, but before I just assumed someone found an old picture of their dad and wanted some internet points. There’s part of me that sees the humor in gettin got, but it’s a nervous laugh for how easily I got got. Near future’s gonna be wild

cyborganism@lemmy.ca on 01 Mar 2024 13:29 next collapse

I think that’s pretty bad ass actually.

ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de on 01 Mar 2024 19:11 next collapse

Don’t underestimate the ability of someone selling denim jackets with white t-shirt sleeves sewn into them.

vanontom@lemmy.world on 02 Mar 2024 00:54 collapse

Nicely done, that’s hilarious. The current state of “AI” is deeply embarrassing and massively over-hyped. Maybe a few trillion more dollars of funding will do the trick…

tiredofsametab@kbin.run on 01 Mar 2024 12:28 next collapse

That was the second thing I saw. The first was the weird fries box with a straw, heh

TexasDrunk@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 15:47 collapse

You don’t get the limited edition fry box and drink the salt out of the bottom?

tiredofsametab@kbin.run on 02 Mar 2024 02:36 collapse

Man, I was alive during the '80s but missed my chance.

MeatPilot@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 12:37 next collapse

And drinking a refreshing Ç̷̧̡̢̧̧̙͓̮̮͖͎̱̤̳̙̺͍̺̜͇̠̯̗̼̯͍̖͈̝͎͙͓̦̞̝͙̺̼̗̘̲̙̮̺̪̹̪̗͓͍̳̲̼͈̖͗͑̾̈́̓̀͗̈́͜͜͝͝ͅͅơ̸̧̡̢̧̢̨̛̛̛̙̟̦͓̜̯̖̬̩̙͚̭͚̱͓̫͖̙̮̪̗̜̗̻̬͖̝̖͉̩̻̺͇̲̩̦͍͚̝̐̾͆̾̃̓́͋͑̀͑́̆̌̒͂̍̎̊̂̓̆̔̀͗̉̄̍̒̎́̒͊͛͌̑̒̽̿̇̀̅̊̄͆̊̈̿̀̂̓̈́͌͛̃͑͑͊̚̚̚̕͜͝͝͝͝͝ͅk̶̢̨̢̛̛̛̮̻͕̱͙̰̬̟͕̝̪̮̥͎̪̻͇̣̼͚͍̲̪͙̗̹̱̺̆͑͐̈́͛̏̽͐̿́̈́͗̽̏̔̋͊̀̅̽́̀̿̓̉͐͊͊̐̍̆̎̍̀͒̋̈́̔̿̔́͑̽̔́͛̾̂͑̈́̔̈́͌̍̈̄͛̍͐͐̈́̃͌̄̋̈́́̌̓̉̇̿̀̀̚̚͘̚͜͜͜͜͠͝͠ę̶̡̛͚͓̲̼͈̭͚̙̼͕̮̙̫̖͓̜̣͕̠̞̫̗͙̥͚̣̣̲̫̜̟͔̯̫̩̼̤̅͒̌̍̑̀̇͂̄͗̀̊̄̅̔̔͗̂̾̉̓̐͗̋͗͊̀̏̇͛̊̏̃̌͌́̈͋̑̒͒̈͌̈́͑̂̈͋̎̑̓̊̀́̐̚̚͜͝͠͝͝͠͝a̸̢̡̢̧̧̤̜̰̠̩̯͙͔̖̳̳̩̘̥͙͙̙̬̦̺̗̝͛́̍̓̇́̀͆͑͜ć̴̡̨̧̛̖̱̥̙̳͓̤̻̑͐̅̑̏̐͊͒̾̎́͗̋̎̈́͐̌̇̓͆̓̒͐̔̄́̂̊͑̒̉͑͑͂́͛͋͒̊͋̓̓̀͂͒̎͋͋̎̽́͋̀̏͒̒̿̒̽̂̔̂̀̅͂̋͐̋̈̀̿̿́̍̕̚͝͝͠͝͠͝͝͝͠ơ̸̢̨̨̢̲͚̤͖͇̦̯͓͍̤͈̹̖̞͕̗̬̮͔͚͙͎̩̣͓̹͎͚͈̖̚͜l̴̨̢̧̡̢̢̢̡̨̢̧̛̺̳̭̘͙̬͙͖̬̲̠͔͈͎͇̠̼̘̗̭̤̥̖̭̻͎̱͈͓̲̺̬̫̤̻̙̮̬̯̻͖͇͔̹̩̟̰̣͙̫͎̤͔̼̩͙̬̖̟̪̤͇̟̫̭̳͙͈͇̮̞͕̰̮̙̪̳̟͈̿́͌̀̄̽͗̄̄̆͑̔͊̈̊͌̄͒͋̎̓͐͂̀͛̊͊̐͂̀̽̒̂̊̔̆̏̌̍͛̾̉̽̑̾̋̅͛̌̆̎͛͑̉͑̕̕̕̚͜͠͝͠å̸̧̧̨̨̛̛̛͍̖̗̲͙̝̜̲̪͖̟̬̱̜̜͚̳̻͉͎̪̩͎͈̟̻̫̟͖̲̤̜̥̮̝̗̳͖͕̻̞̙̳̤͚̹̳͍̭͔̤̼͍̬̼̌̒̔͂̈͆̆͒͂͌̄͗̌̆̉̀̉̽́͂̔̆͂̽̌̈́̏́̿͋͂̎́͛̑͛̐͗̋̑̀̃̀̇̎͛̊̇̆͊̏͗͂̋̒̎͛͆̅͑̀̿̎̉͊͑̍̚̚͘̕͘͘͜͠͠͝͝͝͝͝ͅͅ

w2tpmf@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 13:23 collapse

At least that looks like letters. Check out the Coca-Cola cup.

jordanlund@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 18:57 collapse

I think we need AI generated protest signs to hang from bridges just to mess with people.

owen@lemmy.ca on 01 Mar 2024 12:23 next collapse

As much as this is a fake image, I wish this man was me

clif@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 12:41 next collapse

Don’t let your dreams be dreams. I believe in you.

Fisch@lemmy.ml on 01 Mar 2024 14:29 collapse

Born too late to smoke in McDonald’s 😔

Magister@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 12:49 next collapse

But I can tell you in the 80s, I smoked in McDo, enjoying my Royale, with a beer :)

jlh@lemmy.jlh.name on 01 Mar 2024 13:19 next collapse

This is the most French comment of all time

TexasDrunk@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 15:51 collapse

And you know what they call a… a… a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?

cyborganism@lemmy.ca on 01 Mar 2024 13:32 collapse

Allez ouste, sacré français! Retourne sur jlai.lu! 😉

Magister@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 16:55 collapse

C’était tellement cool le trio big mac avec une bière pour même pas 30FF

cyborganism@lemmy.ca on 01 Mar 2024 20:02 collapse

Ah oui certainement. Avec un bière lol. Ici l’alcool n’était pas permis dans ces établissements.

BeardedBlaze@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 13:01 next collapse

Am I the only one that’s seeing this pic for the first time?

Waldowal@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 13:11 next collapse

Same. Not sure why it would go viral.

TrickDacy@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 13:38 collapse

Exactly my thought. Looks pretty boring and not something I would consider sharing even if it was a single button push.

Ephera@lemmy.ml on 01 Mar 2024 18:59 collapse

Yeah, and 5 years ago, this would have at least been a somewhat interesting slice-of-life picture. Now it’s just bullshit. This could just as well be Mozart smoking a fat one at a McCleopatra’s in feudal China. It would be just as a meaningful.

RootBeerGuy@discuss.tchncs.de on 01 Mar 2024 13:38 next collapse

It was posted in some community on Lemmy. I saw it in my feed but don’t remember where.

tsonfeir@lemm.ee on 01 Mar 2024 13:57 next collapse

It didn’t go viral. The article said it went viral to make a viral.

crusa187@lemmy.ml on 01 Mar 2024 19:20 next collapse

MacD’s trying out stable diffusion for their new ad campaign

Gestrid@lemmy.ca on 01 Mar 2024 20:41 collapse

MacD’s

I think you mean ModL’s.

uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 01 Mar 2024 21:10 collapse

I hope so. My question is, why is this pic allegedly going viral?

tourist@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 17:28 next collapse

I spend an embarrassingly stupid amount of time on the internet.

Every time I see an article describing something as “viral”, it’s almost always the first time I’m hearing about it. (Also, coincidentally often the last time)

scorpious@lemmy.world on 02 Mar 2024 04:16 next collapse

“Viral” is completely meaningless now.

XTornado@lemmy.ml on 02 Mar 2024 06:26 collapse

I saw it before the news…but not sure how much viral it went.

cosmicrookie@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 13:48 next collapse

Looknat them fingers! When the coca cola logo looks like a CAPTCHA test and the guy is eating food off the table

BearOfaTime@lemm.ee on 01 Mar 2024 14:45 next collapse

I saw those things, and yet, sadly, my brain was still trying to make sense of it all, rather than saying “yo, Bear, this image is all kinds of fucked up, probably not real”.

And I’m a cynical, suspicious bastard. We’re fucking doomed.

Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works on 01 Mar 2024 15:00 next collapse

Is that a straw instead of French fries?

AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 15:26 collapse

Also, as was pointed out in the original post a few days ago, the booth in the left part of the background makes no sense in relationship with both the table, and the guy in the right part of the background. Those tables wouldn’t be laid out like that. Also guy in the right background has a capcha face, and the person in the way back has no face. No ashtrays, they had brown glass or yellow tin ashtrays. Also, what’s up with his shirt? Sleeves, but no collar, and apparently no chest piece.

[deleted] on 01 Mar 2024 13:52 next collapse

.

BearOfaTime@lemm.ee on 01 Mar 2024 14:40 collapse

these earth bipeds use very vision-based courtship rituals.

They got one part right

ramble81@lemm.ee on 01 Mar 2024 14:58 next collapse

AI generated or not, I distinctly remember the brown glass ashtrays as McDonalds when I was growing up, so it definitely was allowed.

doubletwist@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 15:13 next collapse

You had some fancy-ass McDonald’s in your area then. Ours has those flimsy tin/aluminum ashtrays.

jawa21@lemmy.sdf.org on 01 Mar 2024 15:38 collapse

Most places near me still have what obviously were smoking sections.

EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 15:26 next collapse

I mean it’s super obviously AI generated, what with the yellow fry box with white sides, and red coke cup with gibberish on it. He has a second white cup behind his hands seemingly floating in mid-air, and his hands are together holding… nothing. There’s a sign in the background that seems to say “Modlidawi” instead of “McDonald’s”

Coreidan@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 15:32 collapse

And he’s also wearing a t shirt which apparently doesn’t have a chest since you can see this dudes naked chest.

Lots of inconsistencies in the photo. AI doesn’t do a very good job. If you look hard enough you’ll see shit that makes zero real world sense.

Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee on 01 Mar 2024 15:39 next collapse

Lets see:

  • Straw in the fries container
  • Chest hair growing thru his shirt
  • "Cocacola" text on the mug
  • His hands and those hamburgers
  • MODLIDANI sign on the wall
  • The heck is that white hat on that dude on the background
TheFriar@lemm.ee on 01 Mar 2024 16:14 next collapse

You’ve never heard of the fishing hat that dreamed of being a baseball hat?

barsoap@lemm.ee on 01 Mar 2024 18:06 next collapse

That’s not hair growing through the shirt that’s simply a bare chest. AI can paint both shirt and chest just fine, but doesn’t understand garments, doesn’t understand that if you have t-shirt sleeves you don’t have a bare chest. Could happen with a dress shirt but then the collar is missing: It’s denim-on-skin in the chest and neck area which the AI can easily make consistent because it’s continuous, then shirt-and-denim on the shoulders, which also makes sense. It’s the combination that doesn’t.

weew@lemmy.ca on 01 Mar 2024 21:34 next collapse

  • exposed chest hair with t-shirt
  • straw in fries
  • hat
  • Smoking inside restaurant

You blame AI, but that’s just the 80s.

lando55@lemmy.world on 02 Mar 2024 03:44 next collapse

First thing to look for is the hands

XTornado@lemmy.ml on 02 Mar 2024 06:28 collapse

But they look normal? People keep saying that, but except the weird position which it’s a picture which it could have caught you in a weird position and that’s it. Like we only see 4 finger on one hand but the thumb could be bended and not visible from the angle.

If you zoom yeah…one finger seems to end up converting to burger but that requires quite a deep look.

But maybe I am missing something.

Tikiporch@lemmy.world on 02 Mar 2024 06:54 next collapse

The person at the table to his right is also topless.

ItsAFake@lemmus.org on 02 Mar 2024 10:16 collapse

White hat dude is definitely a demon attempting to blend into public for the first time, look at those eyes.

homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 16:51 next collapse

“Can you believe this is AI” is the new “Can you believe what this republican said?”

Adderbox76@lemmy.ca on 01 Mar 2024 17:17 next collapse

Article: “If you take a closer look at the photo…”

Buddy, you don’t even have to look that close. The hat of the dude in the background draws your eye immediately, quickly followed by the fries and all the shit going on on that table.

barsoap@lemm.ee on 01 Mar 2024 18:03 next collapse

The average person has exactly zero skill at looking at picture details, it’s a thing you develop as an artist and then need to consciously break by flipping the image, tilting your head etc. to look at the whole composition again.

The average artist also won’t notice when a cow’s horns are above their ears (instead of above in front) because they haven’t seen a reference cow in ages, and never specialised in drawing (or whatever) cows. The average person without artistic eye does not even have the impulse to zoom in on that kind of thing and literally won’t see the little brown hat you put there, you’d have to make it pink for them to ever notice.

Honestly, I don’t see anything really wrong with that hat. The back rim looks a bit strange but that might just be because it’s a strange hat, and I’m certainly not fashion-conscious enough to spot that it’s an anachronism.

The hands and writing are clearly messed up and pretty much the first thing you should have a look at when figuring out whether something is AI. If this wasn’t a “photograph” though but an illustration you might also look at a shitty or lazy human artist in many cases. In this case there’s a dead AI giveaway as humans would never make that kind of mistake: The shirt. T-shirt sleeves but bare chest? How does that work? Shirt and vest and chest are painted very well, the AI did a good job at the details, thing is it doesn’t understand how garments actually work and that the combination of details doesn’t make sense.

Or, in short: (current) AIs are quite good at overall composition and lighting, may or may not have their issues with smaller details depending on the detail, and have lots of trouble enforcing consistency on details that aren’t directly adjacent to each other. You’ll also see things like e.g. the lines of a dunno column being discontinuous at the spots where it moves from background to invisible (because foreground before it).

Many models have gotten quite good at hands (especially SDXL), unless you’re trying to do something complicated with fingers grasping into each other and stuff it’ll probably get it right. But the list of these things is endless, you’ll e.g. see PC keyboards with seven rows of keys. So look at what you know you know (and I don’t know jackshit about hat fashion), and check it.


On another note: It’s good that the people putting out those kinds of fakes seem to have zero artistic skill. Without AI, with good ole photo manipulation by an actual artist, spotting a fake could be close to impossible. Generating flawless photographs with current AI is also a crapshoot, you’ll end up sifting through a gazillion of possibilities, illustrations are way easier because you can explain things away by “yeah it doesn’t need to be accurate in that detail, just give off the right impression”. If you want a convincing fake you’ll still need an actual artist manipulating actual pixels to fix up the AI mistakes.

RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works on 01 Mar 2024 23:40 collapse

Finnnnnnnngers

ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de on 01 Mar 2024 19:10 next collapse

I guess nobody much tried to see if it was fake or not because it was mundane enough to not matter and believable enough because there was a million people like this guy smoking in McDonald’s in the 80’s. My great grandma was a chain smoker. Literally all the time. I remembe going to McDonald’s for lunch in the 80’s and sitting there eating while she chews and smokes at the same time.

So there was no reason to suspect or care about it being a real pic.

alive_posted115@lemm.ee on 01 Mar 2024 19:43 collapse

Looking at the photo knowing it is AI generated, I can definitely see all of the imperfections, however for someone who is just scrolling looking at stuff and not really paying attention, it’s easily passable. And I think that’s a huge problem, especially with Sora being a thing, you won’t be able to believe anything you see on the internet ever again.

I’d even take it further and I’d bet that there are going to be movies made in the future that will brag about how they didn’t use AI in the production. This shit is wild

ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de on 01 Mar 2024 21:05 collapse

It’s a nail in the coffin to know the world wide webs golden age won’t have a resurgence and that you’ll no longer be able to believe or trust anything you watch, read, or hear, pretty soon.

echodot@feddit.uk on 02 Mar 2024 11:51 collapse

People lied on the internet before generative AI. Now they’ll just lie with pictures but the lying will continue

Mastengwe@lemm.ee on 01 Mar 2024 19:53 next collapse

is there a tag on the shirt of the guy with the weird hat?

Clent@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 20:30 next collapse

I’m going to need to see a version with everything in denim to make sure.

dezmd@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 20:58 next collapse

AI or not, this looks unnervingly accurate enough to be one of my uncles in the 80s, including the open chest denim vest sewn onto a tshirt. The 80s was wild, kids.

fidodo@lemmy.world on 02 Mar 2024 08:30 collapse

It’s super accurate all the way down to the C̴̛͔̫̘̳̜̗̹̮͍͉̲̟̰̐̀̅͒͘͜͠o̶͔̙͙̦͎̩͛̓̔̀͋͜ç̸̧̛̯̰̱̤͔͍͖̥͉̟͍̌̄͗̎̅͌̒̀̀͊̈́̓͘͝a̴̳͇͉͌̔̔͋̍͋̏̈́͝c̷̛͎̙̟͘o̴͕̟̳̺͈̤͓̪̟͕̣̮̳͖̦̓́͂̓͗͊̅͠l̷̝̦̟̱̭̗͇̘̳̗̫͐̑͋a̸̡̡̺̹͉̠̺̹͉̙̮̍̏̂̚͝͝

FiskFisk33@startrek.website on 02 Mar 2024 11:09 collapse

It’s interesting how it still looks kindof correct at a glance, until you look at it specifically.

fidodo@lemmy.world on 03 Mar 2024 05:48 collapse

It’s actually a common drink at McDlidani

InfiniWheel@lemmy.one on 01 Mar 2024 23:22 next collapse

This is technically another jean meme

profdc9@lemmy.world on 01 Mar 2024 23:49 next collapse

This is like that episode of Rick and Morty.

<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/ab18c4a9-f6c3-452f-8fd7-510eb21b0688.jpeg">

XTornado@lemmy.ml on 02 Mar 2024 06:24 collapse
Cultural_Hope@lemmy.world on 02 Mar 2024 04:29 next collapse

That cigarette and McDonalds French fry smell is etched on my brain.

Zozano@lemy.lol on 02 Mar 2024 06:33 next collapse

Halloween outfit inspiration material.

FiskFisk33@startrek.website on 02 Mar 2024 11:07 next collapse

mcdonalds? the sign clearly says “modlidani”

fingers? try the coca cola logo…

FiskFisk33@startrek.website on 02 Mar 2024 11:10 next collapse

I like how the french fries got a drinking straw

NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone on 04 Mar 2024 10:57 collapse

I swear I saw this guy dressed just like this on the way out of Coles today.