285
submitted 10 months ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

A viral photo of a guy smoking in McDonald's is completely fake — and of course made by AI::Look at the fingers. You always have to look at the fingers

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] BeardedBlaze@lemmy.world 179 points 10 months ago

Am I the only one that's seeing this pic for the first time?

[-] Waldowal@lemmy.world 82 points 10 months ago

Same. Not sure why it would go viral.

[-] TrickDacy@lemmy.world 38 points 10 months ago

Exactly my thought. Looks pretty boring and not something I would consider sharing even if it was a single button push.

[-] Ephera@lemmy.ml 5 points 10 months ago

Yeah, and 5 years ago, this would have at least been a somewhat interesting slice-of-life picture. Now it's just bullshit. This could just as well be Mozart smoking a fat one at a McCleopatra's in feudal China. It would be just as a meaningful.

[-] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 55 points 10 months ago

It didn’t go viral. The article said it went viral to make a viral.

[-] uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 10 months ago

I hope so. My question is, why is this pic allegedly going viral?

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] tourist@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

I spend an embarrassingly stupid amount of time on the internet.

Every time I see an article describing something as "viral", it's almost always the first time I'm hearing about it. (Also, coincidentally often the last time)

[-] RootBeerGuy@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 10 months ago

It was posted in some community on Lemmy. I saw it in my feed but don't remember where.

[-] scorpious@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

“Viral” is completely meaningless now.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] jordanlund@lemmy.world 63 points 10 months ago

Or the sign at the top.

"MODLIDANI"

[-] RainfallSonata@lemmy.world 43 points 10 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Or the fact that he's apparently cut the chest out of his t-shirt, while his vest doesn't wrap around the back of his torso.

[-] ThrowawaySobriquet@lemmy.world 42 points 10 months ago

As someone who grew up in a white trash landfill, that's probably the least suspicious thing

[-] grabyourmotherskeys@lemmy.world 19 points 10 months ago

I was thinking that. The first time I saw this I didn't look closely and thought "yes, this is pretty much how I remember it, except I'd be scared that guy was going to ash out his cigarette in my burger and slap me on the back of the head as he leaves because he's probably one of my cousins".

[-] Jakdracula@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

This is 100% accurate.

[-] ThrowawaySobriquet@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

I only learned it was fake today, from this post. I mean, I see all the little details now, but before I just assumed someone found an old picture of their dad and wanted some internet points. There's part of me that sees the humor in gettin got, but it's a nervous laugh for how easily I got got. Near future's gonna be wild

[-] nivenkos@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

It was the fashion at the time /s

[-] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Right... at the time...

Puts down scissors and undershirt

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] cyborganism@lemmy.ca 6 points 10 months ago

I think that's pretty bad ass actually.

[-] NeonWoofGenesis@l.henlo.fi 4 points 10 months ago
load more comments (2 replies)
[-] MeatPilot@lemmy.world 28 points 10 months ago

And drinking a refreshing Ç̷̧̡̢̧̧̙͓̮̮͖͎̱̤̳̙̺͍̺̜͇̠̯̗̼̯͍̖͈̝͎͙͓̦̞̝͙̺̼̗̘̲̙̮̺̪̹̪̗͓͍̳̲̼͈̖͗͑̾̈́̓̀͗̈́͜͜͝͝ͅͅơ̸̧̡̢̧̢̨̛̛̛̙̟̦͓̜̯̖̬̩̙͚̭͚̱͓̫͖̙̮̪̗̜̗̻̬͖̝̖͉̩̻̺͇̲̩̦͍͚̝̐̾͆̾̃̓́͋͑̀͑́̆̌̒͂̍̎̊̂̓̆̔̀͗̉̄̍̒̎́̒͊͛͌̑̒̽̿̇̀̅̊̄͆̊̈̿̀̂̓̈́͌͛̃͑͑͊̚̚̚̕͜͝͝͝͝͝ͅk̶̢̨̢̛̛̛̮̻͕̱͙̰̬̟͕̝̪̮̥͎̪̻͇̣̼͚͍̲̪͙̗̹̱̺̆͑͐̈́͛̏̽͐̿́̈́͗̽̏̔̋͊̀̅̽́̀̿̓̉͐͊͊̐̍̆̎̍̀͒̋̈́̔̿̔́͑̽̔́͛̾̂͑̈́̔̈́͌̍̈̄͛̍͐͐̈́̃͌̄̋̈́́̌̓̉̇̿̀̀̚̚͘̚͜͜͜͜͠͝͠ę̶̡̛͚͓̲̼͈̭͚̙̼͕̮̙̫̖͓̜̣͕̠̞̫̗͙̥͚̣̣̲̫̜̟͔̯̫̩̼̤̅͒̌̍̑̀̇͂̄͗̀̊̄̅̔̔͗̂̾̉̓̐͗̋͗͊̀̏̇͛̊̏̃̌͌́̈͋̑̒͒̈͌̈́͑̂̈͋̎̑̓̊̀́̐̚̚͜͝͠͝͝͠͝a̸̢̡̢̧̧̤̜̰̠̩̯͙͔̖̳̳̩̘̥͙͙̙̬̦̺̗̝͛́̍̓̇́̀͆͑͜ć̴̡̨̧̛̖̱̥̙̳͓̤̻̑͐̅̑̏̐͊͒̾̎́͗̋̎̈́͐̌̇̓͆̓̒͐̔̄́̂̊͑̒̉͑͑͂́͛͋͒̊͋̓̓̀͂͒̎͋͋̎̽́͋̀̏͒̒̿̒̽̂̔̂̀̅͂̋͐̋̈̀̿̿́̍̕̚͝͝͠͝͠͝͝͝͠ơ̸̢̨̨̢̲͚̤͖͇̦̯͓͍̤͈̹̖̞͕̗̬̮͔͚͙͎̩̣͓̹͎͚͈̖̚͜l̴̨̢̧̡̢̢̢̡̨̢̧̛̺̳̭̘͙̬͙͖̬̲̠͔͈͎͇̠̼̘̗̭̤̥̖̭̻͎̱͈͓̲̺̬̫̤̻̙̮̬̯̻͖͇͔̹̩̟̰̣͙̫͎̤͔̼̩͙̬̖̟̪̤͇̟̫̭̳͙͈͇̮̞͕̰̮̙̪̳̟͈̿́͌̀̄̽͗̄̄̆͑̔͊̈̊͌̄͒͋̎̓͐͂̀͛̊͊̐͂̀̽̒̂̊̔̆̏̌̍͛̾̉̽̑̾̋̅͛̌̆̎͛͑̉͑̕̕̕̚͜͠͝͠å̸̧̧̨̨̛̛̛͍̖̗̲͙̝̜̲̪͖̟̬̱̜̜͚̳̻͉͎̪̩͎͈̟̻̫̟͖̲̤̜̥̮̝̗̳͖͕̻̞̙̳̤͚̹̳͍̭͔̤̼͍̬̼̌̒̔͂̈͆̆͒͂͌̄͗̌̆̉̀̉̽́͂̔̆͂̽̌̈́̏́̿͋͂̎́͛̑͛̐͗̋̑̀̃̀̇̎͛̊̇̆͊̏͗͂̋̒̎͛͆̅͑̀̿̎̉͊͑̍̚̚͘̕͘͘͜͠͠͝͝͝͝͝ͅͅ

[-] tiredofsametab@kbin.run 18 points 10 months ago

That was the second thing I saw. The first was the weird fries box with a straw, heh

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] w2tpmf@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

At least that looks like letters. Check out the Coca-Cola cup.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 46 points 10 months ago

I guess nobody much tried to see if it was fake or not because it was mundane enough to not matter and believable enough because there was a million people like this guy smoking in McDonald's in the 80's. My great grandma was a chain smoker. Literally all the time. I remembe going to McDonald's for lunch in the 80's and sitting there eating while she chews and smokes at the same time.

So there was no reason to suspect or care about it being a real pic.

[-] alive_posted115@lemm.ee 17 points 10 months ago

Looking at the photo knowing it is AI generated, I can definitely see all of the imperfections, however for someone who is just scrolling looking at stuff and not really paying attention, it's easily passable. And I think that's a huge problem, especially with Sora being a thing, you won't be able to believe anything you see on the internet ever again.

I'd even take it further and I'd bet that there are going to be movies made in the future that will brag about how they didn't use AI in the production. This shit is wild

[-] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 10 months ago

It's a nail in the coffin to know the world wide webs golden age won't have a resurgence and that you'll no longer be able to believe or trust anything you watch, read, or hear, pretty soon.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] dezmd@lemmy.world 32 points 10 months ago

AI or not, this looks unnervingly accurate enough to be one of my uncles in the 80s, including the open chest denim vest sewn onto a tshirt. The 80s was wild, kids.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee 32 points 10 months ago

Lets see:

  • Straw in the fries container
  • Chest hair growing thru his shirt
  • "Cocacola" text on the mug
  • His hands and those hamburgers
  • MODLIDANI sign on the wall
  • The heck is that white hat on that dude on the background
[-] TheFriar@lemm.ee 8 points 10 months ago

You’ve never heard of the fishing hat that dreamed of being a baseball hat?

[-] weew@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago
  • exposed chest hair with t-shirt
  • straw in fries
  • hat
  • Smoking inside restaurant

You blame AI, but that's just the 80s.

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] ramble81@lemm.ee 22 points 10 months ago

AI generated or not, I distinctly remember the brown glass ashtrays as McDonalds when I was growing up, so it definitely was allowed.

[-] doubletwist@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

You had some fancy-ass McDonald's in your area then. Ours has those flimsy tin/aluminum ashtrays.

[-] jawa21@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 10 months ago

Most places near me still have what obviously were smoking sections.

[-] InfiniWheel@lemmy.one 20 points 10 months ago

This is technically another jean meme

[-] owen@lemmy.ca 15 points 10 months ago

As much as this is a fake image, I wish this man was me

[-] clif@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

Don't let your dreams be dreams. I believe in you.

[-] Fisch@lemmy.ml 7 points 10 months ago

Born too late to smoke in McDonald's 😔

[-] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

Looknat them fingers! When the coca cola logo looks like a CAPTCHA test and the guy is eating food off the table

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 13 points 9 months ago

I like how the french fries got a drinking straw

[-] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 12 points 10 months ago

Article: "If you take a closer look at the photo..."

Buddy, you don't even have to look that close. The hat of the dude in the background draws your eye immediately, quickly followed by the fries and all the shit going on on that table.

[-] barsoap@lemm.ee 10 points 10 months ago

The average person has exactly zero skill at looking at picture details, it's a thing you develop as an artist and then need to consciously break by flipping the image, tilting your head etc. to look at the whole composition again.

The average artist also won't notice when a cow's horns are above their ears (instead of above in front) because they haven't seen a reference cow in ages, and never specialised in drawing (or whatever) cows. The average person without artistic eye does not even have the impulse to zoom in on that kind of thing and literally won't see the little brown hat you put there, you'd have to make it pink for them to ever notice.

Honestly, I don't see anything really wrong with that hat. The back rim looks a bit strange but that might just be because it's a strange hat, and I'm certainly not fashion-conscious enough to spot that it's an anachronism.

The hands and writing are clearly messed up and pretty much the first thing you should have a look at when figuring out whether something is AI. If this wasn't a "photograph" though but an illustration you might also look at a shitty or lazy human artist in many cases. In this case there's a dead AI giveaway as humans would never make that kind of mistake: The shirt. T-shirt sleeves but bare chest? How does that work? Shirt and vest and chest are painted very well, the AI did a good job at the details, thing is it doesn't understand how garments actually work and that the combination of details doesn't make sense.

Or, in short: (current) AIs are quite good at overall composition and lighting, may or may not have their issues with smaller details depending on the detail, and have lots of trouble enforcing consistency on details that aren't directly adjacent to each other. You'll also see things like e.g. the lines of a dunno column being discontinuous at the spots where it moves from background to invisible (because foreground before it).

Many models have gotten quite good at hands (especially SDXL), unless you're trying to do something complicated with fingers grasping into each other and stuff it'll probably get it right. But the list of these things is endless, you'll e.g. see PC keyboards with seven rows of keys. So look at what you know you know (and I don't know jackshit about hat fashion), and check it.


On another note: It's good that the people putting out those kinds of fakes seem to have zero artistic skill. Without AI, with good ole photo manipulation by an actual artist, spotting a fake could be close to impossible. Generating flawless photographs with current AI is also a crapshoot, you'll end up sifting through a gazillion of possibilities, illustrations are way easier because you can explain things away by "yeah it doesn't need to be accurate in that detail, just give off the right impression". If you want a convincing fake you'll still need an actual artist manipulating actual pixels to fix up the AI mistakes.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 12 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I mean it’s super obviously AI generated, what with the yellow fry box with white sides, and red coke cup with gibberish on it. He has a second white cup behind his hands seemingly floating in mid-air, and his hands are together holding… nothing. There’s a sign in the background that seems to say “Modlidawi” instead of “McDonald’s”

[-] Coreidan@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

And he’s also wearing a t shirt which apparently doesn’t have a chest since you can see this dudes naked chest.

Lots of inconsistencies in the photo. AI doesn’t do a very good job. If you look hard enough you’ll see shit that makes zero real world sense.

[-] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 10 points 9 months ago

mcdonalds? the sign clearly says "modlidani"

fingers? try the coca cola logo...

[-] Magister@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago

But I can tell you in the 80s, I smoked in McDo, enjoying my Royale, with a beer :)

[-] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 10 points 10 months ago

This is the most French comment of all time

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[-] profdc9@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

This is like that episode of Rick and Morty.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Clent@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

I'm going to need to see a version with everything in denim to make sure.

[-] Cultural_Hope@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

That cigarette and McDonalds French fry smell is etched on my brain.

[-] Zozano@lemy.lol 4 points 10 months ago

Halloween outfit inspiration material.

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2024
285 points (89.7% liked)

Technology

60112 readers
3886 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS