'All eyes on Rafah' sparks controversy as two artists claim credit for viral AI image

Two people from Malaysia, who are 900 miles apart, are both saying they made a picture of Gaza that was created by artificial intelligence and became very popular. This shows how it can be hard to know who made something online when AI is involved. The picture, called "all eyes on Rafah," has been shared around 50 million times on Instagram and other places. The story starts in Borneo, an island in Southeast Asia. One person wanted to make a political artwork showing people in camps in Rafah, Gaza. When Microsoft's Image Creator made the picture, AbKa added two watermarks: one saying it was made by AI and another saying she made it. At first, she was upset that someone took her picture and removed her name. She noticed that the structure and arrangement of the picture were the same, except for a part that was added. She said if the goal was to raise awareness, then she should thank the person who made the viral version of the picture. AbKa thinks the other person took her picture, changed it, and made an Instagram template that became very popular on social media, with almost 50 million shares on Instagram and millions more on other platforms. She thinks this because when she tried making a similar picture with AI, it looked a lot like the viral one. The other person believes he used the same AI service as AbKa but can't remember for sure. He said he was trying different AI images related to Gaza as a way to support a cause, not to become popular. NPR tried many times to make a similar picture using Microsoft's Image Creator but couldn't get close to the viral one. The other person, Shah, mentioned that Instagram removed his graphic war images for breaking the platform's rules. This is a worry shared by other activists who say that graphic images showing the horrors of the Gaza war can be taken down or hidden by social media algorithms. However, there is no agreement on who made the viral picture that has sparked conversations worldwide about online activism and the rise of realistic AI images on the internet.