AI-generated images blur reality after real Alberta highway crash

Kathy Le reports on how fake AI images are fueling confusion, leaving people unsure what to believe and casting doubt on legitimate photos and real events.

A major highway pileup on the QEII between Airdrie and Calgary during last week’s Alberta snowstorm was real, but some of the images circulated widely online were not, underscoring the risks of misinformation in the age of artificial intelligence.

“It used to be that images and video could stand as proof of something,” said Geoffrey Rockwell, a Canada CIFAR AI chair and professor of philosophy and digital humanities at the University of Alberta.

“We’re in a sort of epistemic shift. A shift in the way we determine what is true and what isn’t.”

Officials reported that up to 100 vehicles were involved in the crash. While some videos and photos shared on social media were authentic, online platforms were eventually flooded with dramatic AI-generated images purporting to show the collision.

CTV News showed the images to a handful of people shopping at CrossIron Mills, just north of Calgary, to see if they noticed the fakes.

“I think it’s not real,” said one shopper.

“I’m going to go with real, just to be different,” said another.

Karen Morrison immediately spotted inconsistencies in the photos.

“It’s fake,” she said. “Because I’ve been on the QEII and there is a space between the two highways.”

Closer inspection revealed additional errors: missing medians, incorrect license plates and highway signage with inaccurate text — all common signs of AI-generated imagery.

“You have to check the authority. Who is sharing the image? Do you trust them? Rockwell said.

“Then you can also check the image itself for anomalies. These generative AI systems have all sorts of wrinkles to them. They still don’t produce perfect images.”

Some fabricated images went further, embellishing the scene with unrealistic elements, such as a large freight ship on the highway, deepening confusion and eroding confidence in what people were seeing.

Rockwell says that erosion feeds into what experts call the “liar’s dividend”. A phenomenon in which the existence of fake content allows even genuine evidence to be dismissed.

“We’re in a situation where even when media is true, it can be dismissed as fake, because people expect the environment to be flooded with deep fakes,” he said.

The result is a new reality in which visual proof alone is no longer enough.

“You’ve got to be careful where the images are coming from and not trust anything you see online until you can validate it,” said Brad Pankiw.

Morrison agrees.

“You have to be a critical thinker and analyze everything,” she said.