(The Center Square) – A Republican state lawmaker and the governor took a photo with a constituent at the DuQuoin State Fair after its opening, which was used to allegedly create an AI-generated photo of the two officials that sparked threatening comments about the lawmaker.
State Rep. Dave Severin, R-Benton, said he connected with a constituent of his, Dan “Curley” Summers, who helps feed homeless residents in Benton, while at the downstate fair Aug. 28.
“I waved Dan to come up on the stage there and talk to the governor and so we introduced the two of them, and Dan shares a little bit of his story and Dan says, ‘Governor, is there any way I can get a picture with you and Rep. Severin?’ And so we agreed to that picture,” Severin said.
The photo, however, was allegedly manipulated using AI after being posted online, changed to depict Severin and Pritzker to appear friendly.
“That picture was taken on Friday in front of the grandstands. Then someone took that picture and doctored it up with his AI and put the governor’s arm around me, made both of us doing thumbs up, and so that picture is 100% bogus, not factual at all,” Severin said.
The original images show part of a marquee that was hidden behind Pritzker’s head in the first image had been replaced by illegible, letter-like symbols in place of what is normally a logo for the fair.
The Center Square found the doctored image to have initially been posted on Facebook and other platforms.
“We have concerns literally in every corner of this state,” Severin said of the post. “I mean, every aspect, education, businesses, taxpayers, homeowners. I could go the full gamut. There are so many concerns, but what are we doing instead of addressing those things? We’re pointing fingers at people and making accusations that are inaccurate and just causing havoc.”
The post had more than 500 comments, many of which included threats and hateful sentiment against Severin, believing the caption that claimed Severin was endorsing Pritzker’s third gubernatorial run.
Public sentiment in the comments of Severin’s post addressing the false image largely supported him, with many of the nearly 200 comments expressing they wouldn’t see an issue with the second image if it were real.
The lawmaker denied that he endorsed or would endorse Pritzker when asked.
“Absolutely not. I endorse Darren Bailey 1,000%,” Severin said.
The J.B. Pritzker gubernatorial campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment prior to publication, but Pritzker previously shared his thoughts on the use of AI image generation for political purposes in June.
“It’s being used more and more and frankly it’s deteriorating the political environment,” Pritzker said. “I think that at a minimum we should be watermarking any ad whether it’s online or on television and it should say, this is produced by AI or something like that. So people know this isn’t real.”
