Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kerrie Symmonds has dismissed as “AI-generated fake news” a social media post claiming he had been arrested overseas.
In a statement over the weekend, he assured the public he was “alive and well” and carrying out his duties in Barbados.
“I just want to say that I am here in Barbados very much alive and well, and I’m in St James right now following up on some issues that are of concern to folks in my constituency,” he said.
“There is absolutely no truth to the rumour. It is a vicious, nasty and unfortunate thing that in this day and age, people have nothing better to do than to create scandal, and unfortunately scandal does not lack for a carrier. I am not overseas at this point, I am here for all and sundry to see and I just wanted to give the assurance and put that to bed.”
This follows a pattern of similar AI-driven misinformation targeting prominent Barbadians, including Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley.
Earlier this year, she was among several local figures whose likenesses were used in an AI-generated video falsely linked to a fake Barbados Stock Exchange page on Facebook. The videos, which also featured former calypso monarch Ian iWeb Webster, attempted to mimic their voices and appearances to promote bogus investment schemes.
At the time, Mottley condemned the growing misuse of artificial intelligence, warning that the technology, if left unchecked, could “undermine democracy” and “be destructive of human civilisation”.
“The fact that you can take my voice and my image and pretend that I have made a speech that I did not make is what will undermine democracy, encourage fake news and cause people conflict,”she said.
The Barbados Stock Exchange later issued a statement disavowing itself of the fake site and urging the public to rely on its official social media channels for legitimate updates.
Symmonds’ case also mirrors another instance involving Minister of Educational Transformation Chad Blackman, whose AI-fabricated image showing him being handcuffed by white police officers circulated widely online ahead of the St James North by-election in May.
Blackman too confirmed the image was entirely false, calling it an example of how people misuse technology for mischief.
Hmmmmmm, something also went down wid de ex T&T PM