By Swasti Chatterjee
An AI generated image of Virat Kohli is circulating on social media with misleading claims that the photo shows the Indian cricketer at the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22. The image shows Kohli interacting with a Hindu seer in what appears to be a temple.
The photograph is circulating amidst speculation online about Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma's reported absence at the 'pran pratishtha' or consecration ceremony of the Hindu deity Ram at Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on January 22, 2024. According to reports, Kohli and Sharma were extended an invitation for the event earlier in January. An image of the couple posing with an invite of the ceremony was also shared by several media outlets.
Kohli's AI generated image shows him wearing a saffron jacket and a marigold garland.
While the image does not have any caption linking it to Kohli's visit to the Ram temple, several Facebook users in the comments section have misleadingly linked it to the consecration ceremony.
Fact Check
BOOM was able to ascertain that the image was created synthetically. We noticed that Kohli's hands in the image are blending with his clothes. Kohli's right hand and palm also look distorted. These anomalies are usually seen in synthetically generated AI images which struggle to accurately recreate details of human fingers and toes.
We also found that the man who can be seen interacting with Kohli does not have any hands; and his sleeves blur out in the saffron suit. Images created through generative AI often blur details of human figures. The band of the wrist watch also merges with his skin.
Below are the features in the photograph that clearly indicate that the image has been created through generative AI.
We then ran the photograph through Hive Moderation, a tool that detects AI generated content. According to the tool, the image is 99.9 percent likely to be AI generated.
We also looked for reports of Kohli's presence at the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya - however, most news reports speculated about Kohli and Anushka Sharma's absence at the ceremony. BOOM could not independently verify if the cricketer attended the ceremony or not.
