Dare Babalola
The Presidency has dismissed claims that a photo of Presidents Bola Tinubu and Paul Kagame taken in Paris on Sunday was generated using Artificial Intelligence (AI), describing the narrative as “misrepresentation of facts”.
In a statement issued by Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, on Monday, the photo is confirmed to be real and was taken with a phone during the leaders’ meeting in Paris.
According to Ajayi, the poor quality of the picture led the photographer to use a photo editing tool, grok, to enhance it, which has been misconstrued as AI generation.
“Both President Kagame and President Tinubu met in Paris, had lunch together on Sunday (yesterday). The two leaders later had dinner with President Macron same yesterday evening,” Ajayi explained.
The statement expressed disappointment that media outlets and social media users jumped to conclusions without verifying facts, urging writers and editors to seek clarity before publishing.
The Presidency on Sunday shared an image purporting to show President Tinubu meeting with President Kagame in Paris, but the photograph was later flagged on X (formerly Twitter) as being generated by artificial intelligence.
The image, which quickly went viral, was posted by President Tinubu and his aides, showing both leaders seated in the same space during what was described as a private engagement in the French capital.
In his post, President Tinubu said the meeting focused on global and African affairs.
“This afternoon, I had a private lunch with H.E. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda to discuss the current state of world affairs and advancing Africa in an ever-changing global landscape,” the president wrote.
