"There's very little credible evidence to suggest that Netanyahu isn't alive. But credibility is a rare commodity now that AI can convincingly clone real people across image, video, and audio formats, so it's getting tougher to conclusively dispel the rumors. This is what it looks like when nobody can trust their own eyes anymore."
"Older generative AI tools have a history of struggling with hands so the apparent extra appendage pushed speculation that Israel is using deepfake footage to hide that Netanyahu had died during an Iranian missile strike. On closer inspection, the 'extra' finger can be easily explained by video quality degradation and even lighting."
"In an attempt to put the AI clone conspiracies to rest, Netanyahu published a video to his X account yesterday showing him inside a coffee shop, and asking the person behind the camera to count his fingers. However, social media users promptly called out apparent visual inconsistencies, suggesting the footage was also an AI deepfake."
Social media conspiracy theories claim Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been killed or replaced by AI deepfakes, citing alleged anomalies like extra fingers in video footage. While fact-checkers including Snopes and Politifact have debunked these claims, attributing the apparent inconsistencies to video degradation and lighting, the ease with which AI can now convincingly replicate people across image, video, and audio formats makes it increasingly difficult to definitively disprove such rumors. Netanyahu's attempt to counter the conspiracy by publishing a video showing his fingers only prompted further accusations of deepfake manipulation, illustrating how advanced AI technology has fundamentally undermined public trust in visual evidence and made reality verification significantly more challenging.
Read at The Verge
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