This image shared here, here, and here on X purportedly shows roads flooded in Nairobi Central Business District. “That Beamer will be on a car carrier tomorrow,” one reaction reads. This emerges as heavy rainfall causes destruction and deaths in various parts of the country, causing 15,000 displaced households as of November 5, 2023, according to the Kenya Red Cross.
Background
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja ramped up efforts to unclog drainage systems in the capital and evacuate residents in unsafe buildings after the Kenya Meteorological Department raised alarm over incoming heavy rainfall. El Nino, which is set to occur till January 2024 meant that all counties and the national government had to prepare to mitigate the adverse effects it leaves behind.
Nairobi’s roads are notorious for flooding upon heavy rainfall as seen here and here in reports from March 2023.
Verification
A reverse image search of the picture reveals that it was first shared here by this account on November 4, 2023. The account revealed that the image was generated using DALL-E 3, a text-to-image model developed by OpenAI.
In addition to that revelation, one can easily spot some glaring deformities common in AI-Generated images, especially when they include human figures. The man carried on the lorry (red) appears to be deformed. The number plates on the vehicles (green) are ineligible and do not match the number plates used on Kenyan roads which have the prefix letter K.
Finally, running the image through AI detection software like AI Or Not reveals that the image is indeed AI-generated. See screen grab below.
Verdict
The image purportedly showing a flooded road in Nairobi CBD is AI-generated.
This fact check was published by Piga Firimbi with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and African Fact-Checking Alliance.
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