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George Boyd just won a seat on the Norfolk County Council after being called AI-generated by skeptics.<\/span><\/p>\n Reform UK<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n After becoming the subject of widespread speculation that he\u2019s AI-generated, a newly elected member of the Norfolk County Council in eastern England has insisted that he is, in fact, real. <\/p>\n Claims that Boyd is nothing more than a pixelated aspiring politician began gaining traction after voters had trouble finding much of a digital footprint for the candidate and a headshot used in his campaign material struck some as bearing the hallmarks of artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n \u201cOf course I exist. You can’t get nominated for election unless you’re a real person,” George Boyd, who was elected last week to represent Waveney Valley on the council, told the Eastern Daily Press<\/u><\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n Grok<\/u>, the conversational AI chatbot integrated into social media platform X, reinforced the suspicions shared online. Asked to assess the photo\u2019s authenticity, it cited a polished, airbrushed look typical of AI tools and perfect lighting and symmetry, concluding that the image is \u201cvery likely AI-generated.\u201d<\/p>\n It turns out AI was used to enhance the photo of the Reform UK party representative with a rural background, but didn\u2019t create the image outright. In a world where increasingly realistic-looking AI-generated images<\/u> routinely fool people, this situation demonstrates that real photos can just as easily be mistaken for fakes. <\/p>\n The Norfolk County Council oversees large-scale public services in the region, including highways and transportation, housing and waste disposal. The council didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for a comment on Boyd, but a video interview with Thomas Copeland of the BBC Verify team<\/u><\/a> shows the council member in the flesh making the case that he\u2019s not computer-generated. <\/p>\n \u201cI am not AI,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t meet every single person in the country and shake their hand and say, \u2018Look, I am the real person.\u201d <\/p>\n Colin Sutton, chair of Reform UK\u2019s Waveney Valley branch, also attempted to correct the misconception as claims of Boyd\u2019s inauthenticity spread on X, Facebook and Reddit. <\/p>\n \u201cI was responsible for drafting George\u2019s election leaflets,\u201d Sutton wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cHe sent me the photo, which was him against a white background. As all the other leaflets in my constituency had a background, I used AI to create a countryside background, which was the photo used on his leaflet.\u201d <\/p>\n Sutton also said he\u2019d met Boyd on many occasions. <\/p>\n \u201cGeorge is alive, well, exists, looks just like these pictures and will be an excellent councillor for Waveney Valley,\u201d Sutton wrote. <\/p>\n George Boyd appears on a South Norfolk Council list of election candidates, along with his party affiliation.<\/span><\/p>\n South Norfolk Council<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\nAn Explanation For The Photo <\/h2>\n