{"id":7058,"date":"2023-06-30T12:32:07","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T16:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=7058"},"modified":"2023-06-30T12:32:07","modified_gmt":"2023-06-30T16:32:07","slug":"ai-generated-images-of-satanic-statues-in-hobby-lobby-cause-confusion-outrage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2023\/06\/ai-generated-images-of-satanic-statues-in-hobby-lobby-cause-confusion-outrage.html","title":{"rendered":"AI-Generated Images of Satanic Statues in Hobby Lobby Cause Confusion, Outrage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jennifer Vinyard \/ Facebook | Inset: damann \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Confusion abounded as images of Baphomet statues being sold in Hobby Lobby<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>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\u00a0<\/span>caption<\/span><\/a>, \u201cI think we need to talk about what is going on at Hobby Lobby\u2026won\u2019t somebody please think of the children!?\u201d The post garnered quite a following, being shared over 6,000 times. Vinyard\u00a0<\/span>stated<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that the \u201cprompt was actually very simple; it was something along the lines of \u2018Hobby Lobby selling Satanic products.\u2019\u201d She shared that the images only took about 10 minutes to make. \u201cI\u2019m actually a little embarrassed that they weren\u2019t better\u2026If I knew they were going to blow up the way they did, I would have spent more time on them,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the post going viral from the AI Art Universe page, many people were initially fooled by it, thinking it was real. One <\/span>TikTok<\/span><\/a>\u00a0video shared the images with the caption, \u201cWhere is this hobby lobby? Someone has to know! #demon #satan #creepy #scary.\u201d \u201cApparently, 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\u2019s gonna be somewhere in Europe. I don\u2019t go to Hobby Lobby a lot; I don\u2019t know if these are being sold in America as well,\u201d said the user. Other users commented on their disbelief and disappointment at the store, which has often\u00a0<\/span>presented itself as Christian<\/span><\/a>. Eventually, fact-checkers became involved, with Facebook posting warnings that the images were AI-generated and websites\u00a0<\/span>Reuters<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and others debunking the images and declaring, \u201cSynthetic media. The images were created using artificial intelligence.\u201d Vineyard stated she went after Hobby Lobby specifically for its Christian image. \u201cI just thought it would be funny to use the Satanic decor since Hobby Lobby pretends to be a Christian store,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The confusion is just the latest in growing concerns about how AI-generated images can spread misinformation. <\/span>CNN<\/span><\/a>\u00a0shared a list of some faked images that had gone viral, including an image of Pope Francis wearing a giant\u00a0<\/span>white puffer coat<\/span><\/a>. 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. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Confusion abounded as images of Baphomet statues being sold in Hobby Lobby\u00a0circulated 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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":7064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAI-Generated Images of Satanic Statues in Hobby Lobby Cause Confusion, Outrage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"AI-generated images of satanic statues in Hobby Lobby goes viral.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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