Chilling AI creates frighteningly realistic pics of people who have NEVER existed… can you spot the tell-tale clues?
AT first glance this picture looks like it could be snapped on any night out as three young women smile as they enjoy themselves.
But the longer you look at the image it will begin to look uncanny and maybe even make you uncomfortable.
And that is because none of these people actually exist - they have been generated by artificial intelligence company Midjourney.
The computer programme creates images from simple prompts, such as "women at a party".
It uses machine learning and a neural network to put together pictures based on the prompts offered to it by humans.
And then it produces images like the one above which can be fantastically artistic and eerily realistic.
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The controversial AI is trained by being given photos which it then draws upon to create its own images.
This particularly chillingly realistic photo has gone viral after it was shared by Twitter user .
The longer you look the more you notice the little differences that gives the picture away as a fakes.
With too many teeth, and skin that shines just a little bit too much, these people are not real - they are just the result of bundles of code in a machine.
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The woman in the background has a necklace that appears to blend in with her collarbone.
Her pal in the middle appears to have ten front teeth with one large middle central incisor.
And their other friend appears to have no upper lip as it blends together with the rest of her mouth.
"I do not work in AI, I am not an artist, and I have no particular insight into either of those things," said Twitter user Miles.
"The best I can do is share the weird sh*t that pops out of them when I try them out."
Another photo he shared shows two women taking a selfie - and then you notice the woman holding the camera has too many fingers.
The same is true in another picture as two women smile as the take a snap.
You notice the redhead holding the camera has has at least six long spindly digits.
Her and her friend also once again have far too many teeth.
The final pic shared by Miles is once again very convincing.
At least until you again notice two of the women have mouths filled with unnatural gnashers .
Other pictures he shared of men enjoying themselves at a house party are just as uncanny as the women.
They look good at passing glance - something you wouldn't bat an eyelid at if you were scrolling on Facebook or Instagram.
And then you look closer, and it all becomes very alien.
Again the people have long spindly fingers, disembodied floating hands, swollen and malformed biceps, and digits appearing on bodies were they shouldn't be.
The longer you look the more nightmarish it becomes - but they are still frighteningly close to reality.
And with the advancements in AI generated images simply getting faster and faster, what could the technology do next and what could it be used for?
Miles' post has been viewed nearly 26million times as Twitter users debate whether the photos are horrifying or an incredibly demonstration of the power of the tech.
"This is the most genuine fear I've felt in a long time," said one user on Twitter.
Another added: "One of them looks exactly like my friend from university or rather her plastic copy.
"And that's very creepy, also she had similar photos from one of parties."
Others said "I didn’t even notice the extra fingers and teeth" and "I think I’m gonna have nightmares about this".
Midjourney has been used to create artwork, comic strips, and even whole books.
And a piece of artwork by Midjourney even one a competition in 2022.
It is controversial as artists believe it is stealing their work as the AI has to be "trained" using their copyrighted pieces.
AI-generated images are an interesting curiosity - but there are fears as the technology develops it could one day be weaponised.
And previously revealed how China is already using a Matrix-like network of AI-generated people to dominate the information space online.
Twitter and Facebook profiles are being fronted by pictures of people who simply do not exist - but have constructed by AI software.
The photos are almost indistinguishable from real people and are photorealistic with the imperfections that bring faces to life.
Again - little flaws do give them away, but they are incredibly realistic are first glance.
It sparks fears of what will happen when the AI images truly do become indistinguishable from real life.
Misinformation could easily be spread online using the tech.
Where a picture of a politician taking a bribe was once hard evidence of corruption, would you now have to stop and think whether or not this was an AI generated image?
The world has already seen some fake news spread - such a AI generated deep fake video Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky telling his troops to lay down their arms last March.
Such a piece of misformation could have been devastating and sowed chaos if it ever got traction.
