For the pope, it was the wrong kind of madonna.
The pop legend, she of the 80’s anthem Like a Prayer, has stirred controversy in recent weeks by posting deepfake images on social media which show the pontiff embracing her. It has fanned the flames of a debate which is already raging over the creation of AI art in which Pope Francis plays a symbolic, and unwilling, role.
The head of the Catholic church is used to being the subject of AI-generated fakery. One of the defining images of the AI boom was Francis in a Balenciaga puffer jacket. A remarkably realistic picture, it went viral in March last year and was seen by millions. Francis, however, did not see the funny side. He alluded to the Balenciaga image in a speech about AI in January where he warned about the impact of deepfakes.
“Fake news … today can employ ‘deepfakes’, namely the creation and diffusion of images that appear perfectly plausible but false – I too have been an object of this,” he said.
Other deepfakes include Francis draped in a Pride flag and holding a parasol on a beach. As with the Balenciaga image, they were created by the Midjourney AI tool.
The Italian digital artist behind the Madonna images, RickDick, said he did not intend to cause offence with the pictures, which show Francis with his arm around the singer’s waist and then embracing her. Another image on RickDick’s Instagram page is more likely to offend, showing a photo of the pope’s face seamlessly merged with that of Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson.
RickDick said the Mangione image was intended to satirise the online obsession with the American, which is “elevating him to a god-like figure”.
“My goal is to make people think and, if possible, smile,” said the artist, who works under the moniker RickDick but declined to give his full name.
He said memes – viral images that are endlessly tweaked and recycled online – were our “new visual culture, and I find them fascinating for their ability to quickly communicate deep ideas”.
The pope is an obvious target for deepfakes, according to experts, because there is such a vast digital “footprint” of videos, images and voice recordings related to Francis. AI models are trained on the open internet, which is stuffed with content featuring famous public figures, from politicians to celebrities and religious leaders.
“The pope is so frequently featured in the public eye and there are large volumes of photos, videos, and audio clips of him on the open web,” said Sam Stockwell, a research associate at the UK’s Alan Turing Institute.
“Since AI models are often trained indiscriminately on such data, it becomes a lot easier for these models to replicate the facial features and likeness of individuals like the pope compared with those who don’t have such a large digital footprint.”
RickDick said the AI model he used to create the Francis pictures, which were posted on his Instagram account and then reposted by Madonna, was trained specifically on images of the pope and the pop star, on a paid-for platform called Krea.ai. However, realistic pictures of Francis can also be created easily with freely accessible models, such as Stable Diffusion, allowing users to place him on a bicycle or a football pitch with a few simple prompts.
Stockwell adds that there is also the obvious appeal of juxtaposing a powerful figure with unusual or embarrassing situations – a basic ingredient of satire.
“He is associated with strict rules and traditions so some people would like to deepfake him in situations that are unusual relative to that background,” he said.
Add AI into the satirical mix, and it means more papal deepfakes are likely.
“I enjoy using public figures, objects, fashion and events to provoke thought by mixing the absurd with the unconventional,” said RickDick. “It’s like working with an endless puzzle, always seeking new creative connections. The pope is just one of my favourite themes to work on.”
