After hearing Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's stirring version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," one might wonder what the hulking singer looks like.If you search for this today, you’ll see his AI-generated version.
In another AI image topGoogleIn the top-ranked example, netizens will see an AI-generated image of Kamakawiwoʻole, sitting on a beach, holding a guitar and laughing maniacally.
Ethan Mollick, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania firstspotted this AI image and wrote: "Seriously,Stop believing everything you see on the internet. It's too easy to fake something. You can't tell the real thing from the fake."
As of today (Monday local time), these AI-generated images of Kamakawiwoʻole are still at the top of Google searches.firstPosted to the r/midjourney subreddit four months ago.
"Why is this the first thing I found on Google search for him?" one concerned Reddit user wrote under the original post.FirstA picture? That's cool., but don't you think when people look him up, he should have a real photo?"
Kamakawiwoʻole, who weighs 757 pounds (343 kilograms), is best known for his remix of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What a Wonderful World," which has appeared in several Hollywood films. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" was originally sung by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz.
Business Insider pointed out thatThe AI image is inaccurate because it depicts Kamakawiwoʻole playing guitar, while the Hawaiian musician is actually known for playing the ukulele.
Other similar cases include a search for Johannes Vermeer, which returned an AI-generated painting of a girl wearing a glowing earring, and a search for Edward Hopper, which returned an AI result in the American Realist style as the top result.
These examples raise serious questions aboutHow will search engines be able to surface real content when dealing with the current flood of AI-generated images?.