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Peaceful protest or threat?

Imagine yourself standing in the middle of a demonstration. Voices are loud, posters colourful, the atmosphere peaceful. Just a few clicks – and the same scene suddenly looks angry, threatening, aggressive. Both images look credible.

Which one would you print in a newspaper?

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A picture can your life

Change even if

it never existed.

Anja ShusHu
Real or not?

The picture on the left shows the peaceful women's strike in Switzerland — taken by Basil Stücheli mithilfe von KI manipuliert: Gesichter ausgetauscht, Mimik verzerrt, Gesten verändert.

The right image was manipulated by Basil Stücheli using AI: faces replaced, expressions distorted, gestures altered.

This is how a peaceful crowd becomes a seemingly aggressive mob.

The consequences of this image manipulation are alarming:

Visual manipulation influences emotions

A single photo can completely change the tone of a news story.

Framing effect

Those who only see the manipulated image might believe the protest was violent – with real consequences for public opinion, politics, and legal decisions.

AI makes it easier

In the past, image editing took hours – today, just a few clicks are enough.

Crisis of trust

The more fakes circulate, the more we doubt real images and lose trust in media and facts.

#OnlyFacts

Emotional posts receive on average over 50% more likes than neutral ones.

(Source: Alhabash et al., 2021)

Manipulated photos are often perceived as real – the detection success rate is only around 60%.

(Source: Nightingale et al., 2017)

AI tools can realistically alter facial expressions, body posture, and even lighting conditions.

(Source: Medin et al., 2021 — MOST-GAN)

Once shared, fake images are nearly impossible to fully retract.

(Source: EU DisInfoLab, 2023)

#ClickWithCare

What can you do?

Use reverse image search (Google Lens, TinEye, InVID) to verify the source.

Pay attention to details: unnatural shadows, illogical proportions, blurred faces in the background.

Check multiple sources before sharing an image.

Question it: “Too good to be true?”, “Why am I seeing this image right now?”, “What is it trying to tell me?”

Take a pause instead of doomscrolling.

Learn more about it