A recent photograph from Gaza, depicting a severely malnourished girl, has ignited controversy after Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, misidentified it. The image, taken by AFP photojournalist Omar al-Qattaa, shows nine-year-old Mariam Dawwas, a victim of the ongoing humanitarian crisis exacerbated by the Israeli blockade. Grok falsely claimed the photo was from Yemen, leading to accusations of disinformation against those sharing the authentic image.
A harrowing image captured in Gaza, showing a severely malnourished young girl held in her mother's arms, has become the latest flashpoint in the ongoing battle over truth, technology, and the Israel-Hamas war.The photo, taken on August 2, 2025, by AFP photojournalist Omar al-Qattaa, documents the frail, skeletal frame of nine-year-old Mariam Dawwas amid growing fears of mass famine in the besieged Palestinian enclave. Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip has cut off critical humanitarian aid, pushing over two million residents to the brink of starvation.But when users turned to Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, on X to verify the image, the response was stunningly off the mark. Grok insisted the photo was taken in Yemen in 2018, claiming it showed Amal Hussain, a seven-year-old girl whose death from starvation made global headlines during the Yemen civil war.That answer was not just incorrect — it was dangerously misleading.When AI becomes a disinformation machineGrok's faulty identification rapidly spread online, sowing confusion...
Russia is continuing its disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting the prisoner exchange process by actively spreading false narratives through its officials and propagandists. Source: Centre ...