What The Pope Is Going On Here? Papal Puffer Pic Leaves People Perplexed

The viral, AI-generated photo of the pope in a white puffer jacket tripped up several Twitter users including Chrissy Teigen.
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Pope Francis did not show off his “drip” in a white puffer jacket despite an artificial intelligence-generated image that went viral on Twitter over the weekend.

The image, which fact-checking site Snopes determined to be fake on Sunday, shows the pope rocking the massive coat along with a zucchetto on his head and a pectoral cross around his neck.

But the spread of the image on social media reportedly originates from a Reddit user’s post on Friday, according to Forbes.

The user made the post in the r/midjourney subreddit that’s dedicated to the app Midjourney, a tool that crafts AI-generated images.

OKAAYYY pic.twitter.com/MliHsksX7L

— leon (@skyferrori) March 25, 2023

Other Reddit users have shared pope-centric images on the platform, too, including a “Grand Theft Auto”-like illustration and a picture of Pope Francis sitting inside a white vehicle.

The pope puffer photo comes after several AI-generated pictures of former President Donald Trump depicting an arrest went viral last week.

The pope photo tripped up several Twitter users – including Chrissy Teigen – who were fooled into thinking Pope Francis made the fashion choice.

I thought the pope’s puffer jacket was real and didnt give it a second thought. no way am I surviving the future of technology

— chrissy teigen (@chrissyteigen) March 26, 2023

I’m not saying that the world has just changed but only now do I realise that the Pope in the big jacket was AI-generated.

— James O'Malley (@Psythor) March 26, 2023

the pope has been wearing that same musty robe for a 100 years now why would he decide to be dripped out on a random Saturday afternoon https://t.co/DCZOVuVTQZ

— I Could’ve Just Sat On In With Massa (@WrittenByHanna) March 25, 2023

just found out that the Pope puffer coat picture is AI and the Pope didn’t actually wear a white puffer trench coat. very distraught and heartbroken rn

— simone! (@parasocialyte) March 25, 2023

I think to get through the AI era you need to really lean into your common sense. Is the pope usually dressed like Fat Joe? No. https://t.co/6Hwzz3iZnA

— Hate it here✨️ (@itisclive) March 25, 2023
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