IN SHORT: Facebook users have shared an image of a cloud in the shape of Jesus allegedly appearing in a market in the south-west of Kenya. However, several clues point to the image being AI-generated.
An image of clouds in the shape of a popular image of Jesus is circulating on social media in Kenya. It shows people standing on both sides of the road, seemingly admiring the “appearance of Jesus”.
According to some users, the image depicts an event that took place in Kenya’s Homa Bay county, about 370 kilometres south-west of the capital, Nairobi.
Christianity is the dominant religion in Kenya, with 85% of the population calling themselves Christian, according to the 2019 census.
One post on X (the social media platform formerly called Twitter), dated 7 April 2024, reads: “Seen yesterday at Oyuma Market in Kendu Bay, Homabay County. Watu wangu, we should all start repenting before it’s too late.”
“Watu wangu” is a Kiswahili phrase meaning “my people”.
The image of a cloud in the shape of Jesus has also been circulating on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
But is this image evidence that Jesus appeared in the sky above Homa Bay county? We checked.
AI-generated image
Africa Check found that the image first appeared online on 4 April. It was posted on the Facebook page Meyling Love, which has over 46,000 followers. The account regularly posts images of Jesus.
Many of the images are very similar to the one that has gone viral in Kenya, including these here, here, here and here.
We used the tools Hive Moderation and Hugging Face to help determine if the image was created using artificial intelligence (AI). Both help to assess the likelihood that an image has been created using AI.
AI uses complex computer algorithms to perform some tasks otherwise done by humans. One such task is creating images from scratch based on simple instructions.
Hive Moderation’s analysis indicated a 99.9% probability that this image was created by AI, while Hugging Face gave a 77% probability.
There are also some clues that can help determine whether this image was created by AI.
If you look at the people in the image, you can see that some look as though their faces have melted or they are standing in strange, unnatural postures.
Africa Check previously debunked a video claiming to show an angel sighted above war-torn Ukraine. Like that video, this image of Jesus does not show an actual event.
Read Africa Check’s guide to spotting AI-generated images and videos here.
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