From NPR
LA’s wildfires prompted a rash of fake images. Here’s why
By Bill Chappell
As news spread of fast-growing fires in Los Angeles last week, bogus images magnified the terror: The first fakes, some generated by AI, popped up on platforms like X and TikTok “within 24 hours,” says Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
Many fakes purported to show the Hollywood sign — the most famous symbol of LA, standing for more than 100 years — covered in flames. Aside from being false, some of the dramatic images had glaring flaws.
“You’ve got to love the one where ‘Hollywood’ was spelled wrong,” says Farid, who is also the co-founder of GetReal Labs, a company focused on detecting manipulated media. “I saw maybe a dozen images and videos of the Hollywood sign on fire. It is not.”
Jeff Zarrinnam, chair of the Hollywood Sign Trust, can attest to that. He has a clear view of the sign in the Hollywood Hills both from his home and from his office at the Hollywood Hotel, which he manages...
Hany Farid is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences and the School of Information at UC Berkeley.
