A viral image of Thai policemen wearing colourful, sparkly dresses for a drug-smuggling raid was generated with AI, the police officer responsible said.
The picture of six officers shown in the dancer costumes while flanking a suspect became a viral sensation from Southeast Asia to the Americas.
Major media outlets reported it as a genuine police sting operation in Thailand -- but the officer who originally posted it told AFP the picture was AI-generated.
AFP's fact check department sourced the image to the Facebook page of Tha Luang Provincial Police Station in Lopburi province after finding a "very high" likelihood that it was made using AI.
Police sergeant Rachata Mitrsuripong, the Facebook page's administrator, said he was responsible for it.
"I wanted to create a friendlier image of the police -- showing a cute and humorous side -- so that people would feel more comfortable approaching officers," he told AFP on Tuesday.
"Sometimes the public feels intimidated by the police," he said.
This handout photo taken on May 21 and released by the Tha Luang provincial police station on May 26 shows police officers posing for a group photo with a suspect at a police station in Lopburi province, before the image was altered by AI and shared on their Facebook page.//AFP
Rachata said the arrest details in the post were genuine, and provided AFP with the original image, which had only five male officers in ordinary clothes around the suspect.
Another officer at the police station confirmed to AFP that Rachata manages its Facebook page, but added he was unaware the AI-generated image had spread internationally.
The image went viral after it was reposted by a local media outlet.
It is not the first time police purportedly carrying out sting operations in extravagant outfits have taken the internet by storm.
During Lunar New Year celebrations in February, Thai police donned a red-and-gold lion costume to arrest a burglary suspect.
A Peruvian police officer last year dressed as a capybara and pretended to take Valentines' Day gifts to a drug dealer before rushing into his house and arresting him.
