<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">A fake image of an explosion at the Pentagon briefly went viral and caused a ten-minute long dip on the markets on Monday, stoking further talk that generative AI could cause problems to society.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The image, which many observers suspected came from artificial intelligence, was spread by several accounts, forcing the Pentagon to comment that there was no such explosion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We can confirm this was a false report and the Pentagon was not attacked today," a spokesman said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Arlington, Virginia fire department also reacted, posting on social media that there was no explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The incident followed other occurrences of fake imagery that also created buzz recently on the internet, including of former US president Donald Trump getting arrested and Pope Francis in a puffer jacket.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The earliest tweet found by AFP sharing the Pentagon image came from a QAnon-promoting account that has previously shared disinformation, though the original source of the image was not known.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Emerging generative AI technologies make it easier for non-specialists to create convincing images in just a few moments, instead of needing the expertise to use programs such as Photoshop.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The shared image caused the markets to be knocked for a few minutes, with the S&amp;P 500 stumbling by 0.29 percent compared to its Friday close before recovering.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"There was a dip likely related to this fake news as the (trading) machines picked up on it, but I would submit that the scope of the decline did not match the seemingly bad nature of the fake news," said Pat O'Hare of Briefing.com. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>