AI-generated image of Sydney Opera House's 'underground' level fools Facebook, X users

"Underneath The Sydney Opera House...," read a Facebok post shared on October 24, 2024.

The post includes an image of the Sydney Opera House in Australia which shows an underground domain with eight floors, including what appears to be a boat dock at the lowest level.

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Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on November 7

The image spread across X and Facebook in more than a dozen countries, including Australia,  India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia .

Some social media users appeared to believe the picture genuinely showed the Sydney Opera House.

"I could not even imagine; it is so much deep with so many layers!" one X post wrote.

"That's our beauty icon of Sydney sir," a Facebook user commented.

But the claim is false and the image first appeared in a Facebook group that posts content created with artificial intelligence.

 'Not authentic'

A Sydney Opera House spokeswoman told AFP the image shared online was not authentic.

"The image currently circulating on social media is AI-generated and not an authentic photograph, illustration or depiction of Sydney Opera House, either below or above ground," she said in an email on November 7. 

A reverse image search found the picture published on October 6, 2024 by a Facebook account called "Synthograpy Art", which posts AI-generated images of different buildings (archived link).

The account posted similar pictures which purported to show the underneath of iconic landmarks including Central Park in New York and the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles (archived here and here). 

Synthography Art said on its website that it has a "robust collection of AI-generated images" (archived link)

Below is a comparison of the false post (left) and the image from the Facebook account of Synthography Art (right): 

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Screenshots comparison of the false post (left) and the image from the Facebook account of Synthography Art (right)

                                                                                                   Different scene

Google Maps' Street View imagery showed the image in false posts contained different features from the actual Sydney Opera House (archived link). 

The opera house does not stand on circular ground and is not immediately surrounded by grass or trees, as the false post image shows. 

Below is a screenshot comparison of false post photo (left) and the Google Maps' Street View imagery of Sydney Opera House (right):

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Screenshots comparison of false post photo (left) and the Google Maps (right)

Australia's AAP, an independent wire service, also debunked the digitally generated image of Sydney Opera House (archived link).