Image of Tom Cruise with stunt doubles is AI-generated

Image of Tom Cruise with stunt doubles is AI-generated, not an authentic photograph

(Reuters) - An AI-generated image purporting to show American actor Tom Cruise alongside two of his stunt doubles has confused social media users online. Its creator said it was made using artificial intelligence (AI) based text-to-image generator Midjourney.

The widely shared image (here) caused some confusion and questions online (here), (here). 

— Christopher Kanagaraj (@Chrissuccess) June 7, 2023

Reuters traced the image to a now-deleted Facebook post shared on the Midjourney Official discussion page.

“Tom Cruise's stunt doubles celebrating at the MI 7 premier after party. *If you intend to copy and paste these photos on your website or your FB, please at least mentioned and give credit to the original creator (which is me) or Midjourney, the platform where all these images are created,” the Facebook post’s caption stated (here). A screenshot of the post can be seen (imgur.com/B0jw4ej).

The same user shared another post later saying, “I made a few AI images of Tom Cruise Stunt Doubles with Midjourney a few days ago, for fun. Didn't expect it to go viral. Now at least a million people around the world are asking if the photos are real.” (here).

The original creator and Midjourney did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for a comment.

VERDICT

Synthetic media. Image of Tom Cruise with stunt doubles is AI-generated, not an authentic photograph.