The Surprising Popularity of AI-Generated Images of Jesus Christ on Facebook and Its Impact on Users and Scammers: A Study by Stanford University”.

AI-generated images of Jesus Christ are being produced by thousands of bots on Facebook, and they are capturing the attention of many users. Some of these images go viral and attract large audiences, while others are used to scam users or monetize their pages.

Researchers at Stanford University have studied this phenomenon and found that many of these images are engaging and attract interactions from users, including bots. The competition for attention among page creators has led them to use any tactic that seems to work, including AI-generated content that the platform’s recommendation systems promote.

The study examined 120 Facebook pages that published AI-generated images, each with at least 50 images, and found that these pages had an average of almost 130,000 followers. The images are often combined with texts that promote virality, and some users may not even realize that they are generated by AI.

Scammers also take advantage of gullible individuals in the comments section by offering financial assistance or products that do not exist with the goal of extracting personal information or selling fake products. Despite efforts by Meta to label AI-generated content on its platforms, the issue remains prevalent. Detecting these images may require cognitive effort, and not all users may be able to differentiate between AI-generated and real content. The phenomenon is not limited to Facebook as AI-generated images are also popular on Instagram and other social media platforms.