- Stock indices fell briefly
- Following them, the BTC rate also decreased.
- This again shows the power and threat of AI
The stock market fell temporarily yesterday in reaction to a fake photo of the explosion near the Pentagon.
The image appears to have been generated by a neural network. It was posted on Twitter by a verified account resembling Bloomberg News (but called Bloomberg Feed). The caption read: “Big bang near the Pentagon compound in Washington, D.C. – first report.”
The Pentagon quickly declared that the picture was fake. But the post has already gone viral and led to a brief drop in markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 80 points at times, and the S&P 500 was down 0.26%. Crypto charts, which are closely related to the stock market, did not stand aside. Bitcoin briefly fell to $26,882.
Market disruptions were short-lived, lasting only a few minutes. Now the main cryptocurrency is trading for $27,405.66.
The incident provides a fresh start to the debate over threats to AI. Previously, neural networks have already generated fakes about the arrest of Donald Trump and Pope Francis in a Balenciaga jacket.
The latter case also raises questions about the new Twitter verification policy that Elon Musk introduced. As a reminder, Twitter users can purchase verification for $8 per month. Such an account receives a blue check mark and is visually perceived as a trustworthy source.