{"id":721346,"date":"2026-07-31T17:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/721346\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T17:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:49:09","slug":"new-google-earth-ai-tool-could-fuel-misinformation-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/721346\/","title":{"rendered":"New Google Earth AI tool could fuel misinformation, experts say"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Google also insists guidelines built into its AI model will prevent the creation of imagery depicting &#8220;harmful topics&#8221;, however BBC Verify has found that small changes to prompts can be used to bypass these guidelines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">For example, a request to create a &#8220;raised platform to hang traitors&#8221; next to the UK parliament was rejected. But when a less specific prompt was used, it was accepted and the image was created.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">We also asked the tool to mow the word &#8220;Trump&#8221; into the White House lawn, but it said it could not &#8220;create that image&#8221; based on its guidelines. It did, however, allow a community garden to be generated in the same spot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">With the constant flood of AI imagery, Ajder said, spaces assumed to be &#8220;unblemished by AI are valuable, particularly for journalists and people trying to do work on the frontlines of rapidly evolving crisis scenarios&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;It&#8217;s concerning because it&#8217;s another place where sources of trusted information are being eroded by the constant doubt that AI might be involved,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">For many, Google Earth is the entry point to openly-accessible satellite imagery and can be used to obtain insights into hard to reach areas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;This is potentially particularly damaging to public trust because satellite imagery has historically been seen as an especially trustworthy source of data,&#8221; Bill Greer, a geospatial analyst and co-founder of the non-profit satellite service Common Space, told BBC Verify.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Falsified satellite imagery has already been used to spread misinformation, he added. &#8220;Governments are also restricting access to data more and more, so we&#8217;re likely to see more false images, and fewer real images which will further erode trust.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Google also insists guidelines built into its AI model will prevent the creation of imagery depicting &#8220;harmful topics&#8221;,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":721347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[554,733,4308,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-721346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=721346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/721347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}