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Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo draws ire of artists over AI-generated Eid illustration
- The outgoing president’s traditional Eid al-Fitr message of forgiveness featured an image critics strongly suspect was made using AI
- Artists called the act “difficult to forgive” as it felt like a betrayal of creative workers
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Indonesia’s outgoing president Joko Widodo is under fire after his social media posts featuring a traditional message welcoming the Eid al-Fitr holiday and asking for forgiveness instead provoked outrage for their use of an AI-generated image, a betrayal of human artists that critics called “difficult to forgive”.
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Muslims traditionally ask for forgiveness at the beginning of the Eid holiday, which marks the end of the Ramadan fasting period.
In the posts to his official X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram accounts on Wednesday, Widodo wrote: “With a clean and grateful heart, let’s welcome this day of victory. May Eid al-Fitr bring a lot of happiness and blessings to all of us. May you return for Eid for years, and may you be the winners of God’s forgiveness.”
Attached to the posts was an image of what appears to be the capital city of Jakarta, featuring a crowd of people in front of an elevated train. The picture was immediately suspected of being AI-generated after users noticed its many oddities, including a floating football, poorly rendered hands, and durians that were cut up like mangoes.
In the past, Widodo’s social media team would include illustrations from local, human artists with such holidays messages. The break with that tradition was seen as particularly offensive by designers and other creative workers, who believe that AI is stealing their work and employment opportunities.
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