The Special Advisor to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has officially issued a statement addressing the concerns of Nigerians over a photograph shared on the President’s official X account.
The image, which featured President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, quickly went viral after claims that it was “AI-Generated” started circulating online.
The rumours started when users noticed a small ‘Grok Watermark’ in the right-hand corner of the photograph. A watermark, which many pointed out, was usually present in images generated by the AI tool, Grok.
Due to the widespread allegations of AI use by the Presidency, Onanuga, had to release an official statement debunking said claims.
He explained that the Image was real, and was taken during a meeting in Paris between President Tinubu and the Rwandan president. H further explained that the AI tool was only used to enhance the quality of the image.
He stated,
“STOP PRESS! The narrative that the picture of Presidents Bola Tinubu and Paul Kagame taken in Paris yesterday was AI generated is not correct.
The media report and social media comments that followed are misrepresentation of facts. The picture is real and not AI generated as claimed.
Both President Kagame and President Tinubu met in Paris had lunch together on Sunday (yesterday).
The two leaders later had dinner with President Macron same yesterday evening. The picture was taken with a phone and obviously had poor quality.
The photographer only later used grok to improve the picture quality. That is not a reason to conclude it was AI generated. The writer or editor should have asked questions before this wrong conclusion.”
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