Social Series

Examining Generative AI: Cutting Through the Chaos / False Stories Spread to Thwart Western Aid for Ukraine, Reduce Nation’s Resolve to Battle Russia

The Yomiuri Shimbun

6:00 JST, November 23, 2024

This is the second installment in a series examining how society should deal with generative artificial intelligence.

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A false “scoop” that Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, purchased a luxury sports car when she visited France in June drew a great deal of attention as it circulated in the United States, Europe and other Western countries.

A photo of a purported receipt of the purchase, showing her name and the amount, also circulated on the internet.

On the X social media platform, the claim was included in a post made with Ukraine’s seeking of aid from Western countries in mind. “This is insane. NO more money to Zelensky!” the post said.

A French-language news website was the first to report the claim. It was based on a video clip on Instagram in which a man said he worked at a car dealership and assisted Zelenska with the purchase.

Many Russian media outlets quoted the allegation, and pro-Russia influencers based in Western countries reposted it on their social media accounts, thus helping spread the claim.

The Ukrainian government’s Center for Countering Disinformation immediately warned that it was a false story created by Russia, and that people should be wary. The center said it was highly likely the video clip was a sophisticated deep fake made with AI. The receipt shown in the photo was also a fake.

The news site that first reported the story was created just nine days before it carried the claim.

False reports that Zelenskyy and his wife have bought expensive goods have repeatedly appeared in Western countries. Aid from various nations is essential to put Ukraine in a favorable war situation. Russia’s aim is to create negative public opinion about Ukraine in Western countries, decrease aid to the country and deepen its hardships.

Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian center, used the term “media clones” to describe sites that pretend to be local media and transmit fake information. He warned that Russia is using the websites “to create a network” of fake information in Western countries.

Kovalenko also said news articles themselves are created by AI in many cases.

Tommaso Canetta, a fact-checking coordinator at the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), voiced concern about the progress in AI technology. EDMO was established by the European Union to monitor and analyze fake information.

“In the near future, AI technology will become good enough to produce content that is indistinguishable from reality, so you will not be able to trust your own eyes anymore,” Canetta said. “This poses a huge, enormous challenge for … the whole society.”

Also inside Ukraine, fake videos and fake graphic images made by AI are circulating on social media. Controversy developed concerning Avdiivka, a town in eastern Ukraine that was captured by Russia in February after a fierce battle, when a fabricated video spread in which Zelenskyy appeared to order forces to retreat.

Alona Romaniuk, editor-in-chief of Nota.E.Nota, a private Ukrainian fact-checking organization, said the content of fake news has changed “every day” in accordance with the war situation and the interest shown by the public. Sometimes the fake news pieces spread and “a lot of them work very well,” Romaniuk said.

Such fake stories are disseminated to lessen trust in Zelenskyy, stir anxiety among the Ukrainian people about their possible mobilization to the front lines and sap the will to fight among soldiers and the public.

Russia is trying to continue its aggression against Ukraine in an advantageous way by shaking that nation’s unity.