Pablo Xavier, the author of the photo of Pope Francis in a down jacket made using the Midjourney software, spoke about the genesis of this shot which went viral in a few hours.
She made the rounds on social media. The photo of Pope Francis wrapped in a giant white puffer jacket, commented on and shared by millions of people, went viral in the space of hours last weekend,
Perceived as authentic by the public, it was in fact an ultra-realistic photomontage made using Midjourney software, a tool based on generative artificial intelligence and capable of creating a fake photograph in a few seconds based on a request from an Internet user. Its author, Pablo Xavier, a 31-year-old construction worker from the Chicago area, confided on Monday March 27 from BuzzFeed about the circumstances that led him to create this montage.
Overtaken by the events
The idea germinated last week when Pablo Xavier (whose last name is not revealed) was under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms. “As usual, I was trying to find something fun to do. Funny things or psychedelic art,” he told BuzzFeed News. Suddenly, it’s enlightenment.
“It seemed crystal clear to me. I told myself that I should do Pope Francis in a Balenciaga coat, Moncler, walking in the streets of Rome or Paris”, summarizes Pablo Xavier who explains that he started using Midjourney following the death of one of his brothers last November.
According to the 30-year-old, the first three images are generated by Midjourney on Friday March 24 around 2 p.m. They quickly go viral. “I just thought it was funny to see the pope in a funny jacket (…) But I didn’t want it to take on such a magnitude”, specifies the author of the facts overwhelmed by the worldwide impact of his creations.
“I feel like shit”
Pablo Xavier then realizes that he has unwittingly conveyed “fake news”. “It’s really scary that people seize on these images thinking they are true without asking questions”, he remarks, regretting that his photos are taken up by people who use them to criticize the lavish spending of the Catholic Church. “I feel like shit. It’s crazy,” he says.
“I had never thought” of the potential impact of images generated by artificial intelligence, he admits, believing that laws should be put in place to prevent this kind of event from happening again in the future.
“I think the creation of photos by artificial intelligence is acceptable for ordinary images inspired by Vincent Van Gogh for example. On the other hand, there is perhaps a limit in terms of its use for public figures”, concedes Pablo Xavier.
