Two AI-generated images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are being shared as behind-the-scenes photographs from his campaign trail in Assam and Kerala, suggesting his interactions are staged. One shows Modi sitting with women workers surrounded by a massive camera crew, the other shows him in mundu (traditional Kerala attire) holding coconuts under a coconut tree.
BOOM found that both images are AI-generated. Google's SynthID detector confirmed that both images were created or edited using Google's AI, and the Kerala image contains a visible Gemini watermark.
Assembly elections in Assam and Kerala are scheduled for April 9. Furthermore, Modi visited a tea garden in Dibrugarh on April 1, where he interacted with women workers in Assamese attire, sharing photographs from the visit on his social media handles.
The Claim
The image of Modi with women workers was shared on X by Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad, claiming the photograph showed an elaborate and expensive behind-the-scenes setup for a campaign photoshoot. The second image, showing Modi in Kerala attire holding coconuts in front of cameras, was shared by Congress' Alka Lamba (archive) and another X user.
What We Found:
1) AI Detection Tools Confirm Both Images Are AI-Generated
We ran the image of Modi with women workers on Google's SynthID detector, which confirmed that most or all of the image was created or edited using Google's AI. The tool Was It AI and Hive Moderation also indicated AI origins.
For the second image of Modi in Kerala attire, SynthID returned the same result. The image also carries a Gemini watermark in the bottom-right corner, indicating it was generated using Google's AI image tool.
2) Visual Anomalies
The image of Modi in the tea garden contains tell-tale signs of AI generation. Text on the clapperboard and signage in the image appears as garbled, nonsensical characters, a hallmark of AI-generated imagery. The people surrounding the setup also appear artificially rendered and blurred.