Have you seen the pictures of basketball great LeBron James in a pink outfit purportedly attending the premiere of the newest Barbie film? These images have gone viral on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. However, they are entirely fake.
These pictures sometimes include accessories like a pink purse and are often captioned, “LeBron James at the Barbie movie.” James can also be seen wearing a pink skirt in one of the photos, although the shade is just off enough to pass for beige.
Despite the subtle color differences, these images are fake and were created with the help of AI tools like MidJourney or DALL-E. The specific AI tool used to create the fake James photos currently circulating on social media remains unknown.
One of the fake pictures has received over 260,000 views on Facebook alone and caught the attention of PolitiFact, a group that fact-checks political claims. According to PolitiFact, some of the fabricated images of James have fingers that are wildly out of proportion and even “alien-like.” It’s a reminder that artificial intelligence (AI) still struggles with creating realistically-looking fingers in viral fake images.
The new movie, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, celebrates Barbie while also critiquing the beloved toy’s history. For Warner Bros., the movie has already amassed a staggering $200 million at the box office.