An image which shows several people inside a tunnel carrying the Indian national flag is being shared with users linking it to the successful rescue operation conducted in an Uttarkashi tunnel on Tuesday, 28 November.
Who shared it?: Media organisations, such as Hindustan Times, Dainik Bhaskar and News24 shared the image on their official Facebook handles. The Ambassador of Israel to India, Naor Gilon, too shared the image.
The Quint, too, had erroneously shared the image in one of its reports. (More archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)
What is the truth?: The viral image has some noticeable errors and was generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. It is being falsely circulated as a real visual from the successful operation.
Errors in the viral image: While looking at the viral image, we found several noticeable errors that indicated the possibility of the image being AI-generated.
A closer look at the faces of the people in the image would show that their eyes seem to be blurry.
The AI tool's problem with generating hands and fingers is well-known, and it can be seen here as well. Some people could be seen with three fingers or wrong finger alignment.
Other noticeable error is the misshapen hand structure of some people.
What did the AI tools say?: Team WebQoof passed the image through two AI image detection tools and both of them indicated that the image was generated with the help of AI.
The 'AI or Not' tool showed that the image was likely AI.
Another tool 'Illuminarty' indicated that the probability of this image being AI-generated was 97.4 percent.
Other findings: We further noticed that the image was credited to a verified X handle named 'Exclusive_Minds'.
On going through the handle, we found the same image uploaded on the handle on 28 November. It also carried several other pictures.
We came across a reply by the same handle that indicated one of the images were generated using AI.
PTI issues advisory: The Press Trust of India (PTI) had also shared the image on 28 November, and issued an advisory for the image saying on 29 November, "Editors kindly kill this photo, from your systems as it is a fake image."
About the rescue operation in Uttarkashi: All 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, were rescued by officials on 28 November.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari confirmed the same on his official X handle.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was an emotional moment for everyone after the successful rescue operation.
Confused about AI images and their impact?: The Quint's WebQoof had published a guide on the tools one can equip to prevent falling for AI-generated images. The guide also mentioned the real-life impact of such images. You can read our story here.
Conclusion: It is clear that an AI-generated image is being falsely shared as a real visual from the successful Uttarkashi operation.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
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