'Doesn't Show Actual Horror': Social Media Criticise AI Generated Image For Rafah Instead Of Real Images
Since Israel has started to bolster its already brutal and barbaric attack on Gaza, global condemnation followed. The May 26th massacre has caused many of those who were silent for the past seven months to speak up. Since the attack, the All Eyes On Rafah has been trending massively on social media platforms. Several celebrities who have been pointedly silent, has joined the trend, including nearly 100 Indian celebrities,.
Notably, though it has been shared widely, the AI generated image appears to be another shape of the digital erasure of actual barbarity unleashed on the Palestinians, said many. Criticisers pointed out that even though there had been real images and videos of what has been happening for the past seven months, choosing AI image is derogatory.
The AI generated graphics of All Eyes On Rafah has been shared by more than 44 million times on Instagram. The graphics depicts a densely packed rows of tents stretching endlessly across a desert landscape overshadowed by mountains. The image alludes to more than 1 million displaced Palestinians who were running from the intense Israeli bombing.
While it has been actively shared, criticisms are also on the table regarding the use of an AI generated image, as it does not actually depict the depth of horror the Palestinians are facing in the besieged enclave. Rafah looks nothing like what has been shown in the AI generated image. Criticisers believe that the least that could be done is to share the images of burnt tents after the May 26th massacre.
The discussed reasons behind the wide sharing of the image is believed to be the “Add Yours” feature in Instagram, which allows the user to repost the image in seconds without having to search for it. Another stated reason is that, since it is an AI-generated image, it is believed to have passed the keyword detection or the text-based censorship of the platform.
Experts also attribute the virality of the image to the stark contrast it holds to the actual visuals of the war, which are often graphical filled with blood, dismembered bodies, and unfathomable violence. To fully convey the horrors of the victims on the war field, social media users made it a point to circulate vivid images of casualties and mourning family members and friends.
Eddy Borges-Rey, associate professor in residence at Northwestern University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that, “this might explain why algorithms on platforms like Meta [Facebook and Instagram], designed to filter graphic violence, did not flag this image. Unlike real, graphic images of the war, which might be restricted or removed due to content policies, this AI-generated image could spread more freely, contributing to its rapid virality”.
However, what Palestinians are facing are far beyond any of the onlookers’ sense of understanding or imagination, as none has been put to such situation. The irony in the issue is that Palestinians has been trying to let the world know what is being done to them through their social media account. It also undermines the works of Palestinian journalists, who has been risking everything they have to report the realities on ground.
One X (formerly twitter) user named Maryam said pointed that, “palestinian journalists have been risking their lives for months to document every single massacre and instead people are reposting an ai-generated “art” that says “all eyes on rafah” and tells us nothing about what is actually happening on the ground or gives us any action items”.
Another user has shared image of bodies draped in white cloth to be used to “call awareness for ALL EYES ON RAFAH and the ongoing genocide happening in Gaza and across Palestine”.
Among those who criticised the AI graphics also include actor Rachel Zegler. On Wednesday, the Hunger Games star shared a message on her social media platform, and stated that the image fails to provide information or context about what is actually happening to the Palestinians.
She wrote that “I genuinely find it disturbing that the only way so many people have suddenly felt comfortable sharing their support for palestinian lives is via an Al-generated image that doesn’t even begin to touch upon the actual horrors of what these human beings are experiencing”.
The Oscar nominee for West Side Story further added that there are several other infographics from GoFundMe appeals and other art pieces that would have been more useful in the context.
