The TUV’s deputy leader has said he shared an AI-generated image of a Drumcree protest because he found it amusing rather than to mislead followers.
Ron McDowell posted the image, which exaggerated the size of the crowd, after a rally in Portadown on Tuesday night, when an estimated 200 people gathered in a car park at the end of the Garvaghy Road.
The post was reported by The Irish News early on Wednesday and was subsequently deleted.
In a later Facebook post, which the platform has labelled “AI content”, the TUV councillor said: “I really need to learn social media better. (There’s no cure for stupid).”
He said he had spoken to a crowd he put at around 500, and that people were also gathered elsewhere in the town: “Last night I spoke from the stage in front of a really healthy crowd of about 500 or so protestors. Others were on the hill or in different locations in the town. A really encouraging night.”
Mr McDowell acknowledged the image was AI-generated and said it had been sent to him.
“I released an AI image of about 35k that had been sent back to me that I thought was amusing and totally unbelievable, for my own entertainment and for the entertainment of others,” he said.
He accused media outlets of “trying to deflect” by focusing on the AI altered image.
He then posted a further image, saying: “Here one of 100k this time, maybe they’ll believe that too.”
Mr McDowell added: “Ironically the original image doing the rounds is the photo I took and I also released. So I’ve nothing to hide.”
His original post said: “Tonight I was proud to share a stage with The Portadown District, Jamie Bryson and Carla Lockhart who have done a phenomenal job for the Portadown Orangemen. They got the response they deserved from the crowd tonight.”
The original posting gave no indication that it had been shared as a joke.
See The Irish News’ video analysis of the AI video:
