Pope Francis was hospitalised in Rome last week with a respiratory infection. Yet according to the internet, the entire incident could’ve been avoided had he worn the AI-generated puffer coat that took the digital world by storm last week. With the Pope’s illness happening shortly after the image was posted online, internet users quipped that Read more
Posts Tagged ‘AI’
Ethics of creating A.I. images in spotlight
Monday, April 3rd, 2023
Last weekend, millions of Twitter users saw Pope Francis appear on their feeds, modelling what seemed to be a custom Papal puffer coat. In reality, though, the head of the Catholic Church never wore that designer, Balenciaga-like jacket: The image was nothing more than a hyper-realistic A.I. generation. Behind this work of forgery was Pablo Read more
Midjourney ends free trials amid controversy over fake images
Monday, April 3rd, 2023
Midjourney, the artificial intelligence (AI) image generator programme, has discontinued free trials after a series of fake images, including one of Pope Francis, went viral. Founder David Holz announced on his Discord channel, “Due to a combination of extraordinary demand and trial abuse, we are temporarily disabling free trials until we have our next improvements Read more
Photograph of Pope Francis in white puffer jacket goes viral
Thursday, March 30th, 2023Recently a photo of Pope Francis looking dapper in a white puffer jacket went mega-viral on social media. But there was just one problem: The image was not real. It was made using an AI art tool. The image’s creator has shared the story of how he generated the photograph that fooled the world. Read Read more
Pope in a coat looks good but look again
Thursday, March 30th, 2023
It happened to me: I thought the image of the pope in a coat was real. Here’s my first excuse: I don’t really know much about popes. His holiness can be out there doing his things, and I can be over here doing mine, and our ecosystems never really cross. I think I just idly Read more
Artificial Intelligence: Theologians, philosophers and Catholic thinkers weigh in
Monday, February 20th, 2023
Like paper, print, steel and the wheel, computer-generated artificial intelligence is a revolutionary technology that can bend how we work, play and love. It is already doing so in ways we can and cannot perceive. As Facebook, Apple and Google pour billions into A.I. development, there is a fledgling branch of academic ethical study—influenced by Read more
AI ethics backed by Pope and tech giants in new plan
Monday, March 2nd, 2020The Roman Catholic Church has joined up with IBM and Microsoft to work on the ethics of artificial intelligence. Leaders from the two tech giants met senior church officials in Rome, and agreed to collaborate on “human-centred” ways of designing AI. Microsoft president Brad Smith admitted some people may “think of us as strange bedfellows” Read more
A.I. could bring a sea change in how people experience religious faith
Thursday, December 12th, 2019
The Michigan-based company Covenant Eyes markets itself to Christians who want to stop viewing pornography. Its software takes screenshots of a user’s screen activity, uses A.I. to scan it for pornographic imagery, and then sends regular reports to the user and a designated “ally” who has agreed to hold him accountable. The company’s name comes Read more