Wrestler protest: how AI put smiles on faces of detained athletes, as per social media users

Amid claims that a morphed picture of protesting wrestlers was being shared on social media, some netizens conducted an analysis of the viral image.

The controversy began with athlete Bajrang Punia on May 28, 2023, sharing two images of fellow protesting wrestlers Vinesh and Sangeeta Phogat. One showed the Phogat sisters smiling while being detained by police, and the other showed them sitting seriously.

YouTuber Dhruv Rathee claimed that artificial intelligence software was used to alter the photograph. He said that the morphed image can be easily recognised since AI gives people perfect-looking teeth.

Another social media user compared the allegedly morphed photo with older pictures from Vinesh Phogat's Instagram. He claimed that the AI photo showed Vinesh with prominent dimples as she smiles. But other photos of Vinesh do not show any dimples in her cheeks, he said.

Another person named Uzair Rizvi, who claims to be an AFP journalist, posted a video as a tutorial of how AI can be used to put smiles on faces in photographs. He tweeted that he used an application named FaceApp to alter the image. For the demonstration, he used the same viral photos of Vinesh and Sangeeta Phogat.