Confusion abounded as images of Baphomet statues being sold in Hobby Lobby circulated the internet. The images were generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) program called Midjourney. Jennifer Vinyard, an Austin-based pharmacy tech and member of The Satanic Temple, created the images and shared them through her personal Facebook, Reddit, and the public Facebook group AI Art Universe with the caption, “I think we need to talk about what is going on at Hobby Lobby…won’t somebody please think of the children!?” The post garnered quite a following, being shared over 6,000 times. Vinyard stated that the “prompt was actually very simple; it was something along the lines of ‘Hobby Lobby selling Satanic products.’” She shared that the images only took about 10 minutes to make. “I’m actually a little embarrassed that they weren’t better…If I knew they were going to blow up the way they did, I would have spent more time on them,” she said. 

Despite the post going viral from the AI Art Universe page, many people were initially fooled by it, thinking it was real. One TikTok video shared the images with the caption, “Where is this hobby lobby? Someone has to know! #demon #satan #creepy #scary.” “Apparently, Hobby Lobby has a crapton of Baphomet and demon-like statues just on the shelves right now. I zoomed in on some of the price tags, though, and they do have pound symbols next to them, so it’s gonna be somewhere in Europe. I don’t go to Hobby Lobby a lot; I don’t know if these are being sold in America as well,” said the user. Other users commented on their disbelief and disappointment at the store, which has often presented itself as Christian. Eventually, fact-checkers became involved, with Facebook posting warnings that the images were AI-generated and websites Reuters and others debunking the images and declaring, “Synthetic media. The images were created using artificial intelligence.” Vineyard stated she went after Hobby Lobby specifically for its Christian image. “I just thought it would be funny to use the Satanic decor since Hobby Lobby pretends to be a Christian store,” she said. 

The confusion is just the latest in growing concerns about how AI-generated images can spread misinformation. CNN shared a list of some faked images that had gone viral, including an image of Pope Francis wearing a giant white puffer coat. There were also faked images of former President Donald Trump being arrested by the police. Henry Ajder, a synthetic media expert, shared with CNN that he was worried AI-generated images would just more firmly entrench the tribalism that is causing so much political division throughout the world. “I worry that it will sort of get to a point where there will be so much fake, highly realistic content online that most people will just go with their tribal instincts as a guide to what they think is real, more than actually informed opinions based on verified evidence.”