Grandma in acrylic resin block as a coffee table?

"This family encased their deceased grandmother in resin and use her as a coffee table." powerful acrylic resin block shows. Behind it you can see three people - probably their family? – beaming with joy.

On Twitter we found the picture with the “Acrylic Grandma” by another user who posted it on June 19th:
“so much fun encasing “loved ones” in acrylic resin!” / “It's so much fun “To encase “loved ones” in acrylic resin!” writes Free Willie Urqs.

This seems to be the original creator of this “work of art”. Anyway: you're not serious, are you?

___STEADY_PAYWALL___

Our first suspicion: AI as the culprit

Of course, in times of mid-journey and the like, our first thought is: AI-generated. So we look for clues and find them: The hands, it's always the hands! Although image AIs are getting better and better, they still have their weaknesses when it comes to human anatomy.

We count six fingers on grandma's right hand. The left hand also seems a bit... well, let's call it "weird." The true-to-life representation of objects in acrylic resin will certainly be slightly distorted depending on the viewing angle. But this hand has parts that don't really belong here. And let's leave it open that Grandma seems to merge with an ice or glacier-like environment. Possibly falls under artistic freedom. And grandma doesn’t look all that unhappy about it…

Snopes fact checkers also ran the image through various AI detection tools. Hive Moderation recognized an AI-generated image with a probability of 70.1 percent. Illuminarty is even 96.5 percent sure of this. And Fake Image Detector believes it is a “computer-generated or modified image.”

Puzzle solved: AI generated. That was easy. Or not?

Dog in acrylic block

On June 18th – before the tweet with the acrylic block grandma – the same photo was published on Twitter.
However, instead of grandma, a dog has sneaked into the acrylic block: “Encasing loved ones in acrylic resin, a great Father's Day gift!” / “Encasing loved ones in acrylic resin, a great gift for Father's Day!”

In this tweet we also find the picture of Free Willie Urqs in response. So we change our mind: the origin of this idea probably lies with Kelly Port.

What is now clear to us, however, is that the picture of grandma in acrylic resin is not an AI-generated picture. Because what the image AIs cannot do is change only individual parts of the image. So other tools must have been involved here.

Adobe Photoshop Beta: Generative Fill

In the current beta version of Photoshop, AI is included in the image editing software. A popular tool here is “Generative Fill”, which can be used to change individual parts of an existing image – with the help of AI.

Our guess is that various tools were used to create the image and then partially change it.

Free Willie Urqs also confirms this assumption when Snopes reporter Jordan Liles asked about the tools used on Twitter:
“No problem for me, can't say what Kelly Port used to create the original image. My edits were just made in the new Photoshop beta with AI generation.”

Conclusion

Here no dog or the family's grandmother was cast into an acrylic block to be used as a coffee table. At least the objects or living beings that are in the block are AI-generated content.

If you use Photoshop Beta's “Generative Fill” tool on the image, you can create a variety of things into the acrylic block. So don't let a bear tie you up 😉

Image AIs and image processing: A very exciting but also diabolical combination that we will certainly encounter and challenge more often in fact checks in the future.

As for the original image of Kelly Port, Snopes has asked about its creation but is still awaiting a response. This could well be a real photo. We may find out what was originally in the acrylic block on the table after we hear back from Port.

Maybe also good to know: Kelly Port is listed on the IMDb . He is responsible for visual effects and has proven his skills on, for example, “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Beauty and the Beast”. Port probably pulls off such images and effects within a few seconds.

Source:

Snopes

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