A man in Singapore has been left utterly dumbfounded after discovering an ex-schoolmate was using his photos to AI-generate a fairytale family life on social media.
The man, who has been given the pseudonym Luke by The Straits Times, was informed that an apparent stranger was pretending that she was not only in a relationship with Luke, but also had children by him too.
Disturbingly, the woman was using photos that Luke was sharing on his social media, and the pictures of the kids were coming from Luke’s sister’s profile.
“My boys,” reads the caption of one post showing an image of Luke apparently holding the couple’s baby that appears to have been created by using an actual photo of Luke as a prompt for an AI image generator. The AI model changed Luke’s clothing and added the baby, which has been partially obscured by emoji sunglasses — adding to the realism.
A Girl From School
Luke’s sister was alerted to the situation via a friend who knows her brother and knew that he didn’t have a wife or children. Once made aware, Luke’s sister tried to contact the woman, but didn’t receive a response.
“We were very worried and concerned that this stranger has photos and videos of my children stored in her phone and was sharing them online as and when she likes,” Luke’s sister tells The Straits Times. “It has made us quite paranoid and anxious about sharing anything online now.”
Luke was understandably shocked by the posts, but after a few weeks, he realized that he actually knew the woman: she was a former schoolmate from roughly 15 years ago.
“I spoke no more than two sentences to her when we were in school,” Luke says. “From the very few times I’ve seen or had any interactions with her, I had no idea she was capable of doing this.”
The woman’s imaginary life included pictures of her and Luke on dates, the couple posing with kids, and even of the woman while supposedly pregnant.
After Luke’s sister went public with the situation via a post on Threads, several people came forward to say they believe that the woman was also impersonating Luke, having received messages from profiles purporting to be Luke.
It’s a sad tale that touches upon many byproducts of the digital world: isolation, loneliness, manipulation, jealousy, control, and more. Luke and his sister have since set their social media profiles to private, and Luke is obtaining a protection order under Singapore’s Harassment Act.
Image credits: Threads via The Straits Times
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