That company's 'About Us' page may be full of fakes

[Opti]

www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/that-company-s-about-us-page-may-be-full-of-fake-pictures-of-people-who-don-t-actually-exist/ar-AA131crH?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=d3a2d84a07bd4dce8d72c1f86521eae1#image=AA131hM1|2

Did not see this coming, but I should have.


Some companies are using AI technology to put fake "staff" on their "about us" pages.

An Insider report by Evan Ratliff found numerous examples of firms using such images.

One company owner said he added fake employees to make his company appear bigger than it really was.

Some companies are using fake, AI-generated images of "staff" who don't exist on their "about us" pages in an attempt to make their company look bigger.



An investigation by Evan Ratliff for Insider found companies were using Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) software to create AI-generated pictures on their websites to give the impression that these "people" were staff members.

Anyone ever see websites like this, or notice something was off about the staff pics?

[Tiny]

I find it really weird and creepy that a business would put the names (and photos) of their ACTUAL employees on their public access webpage.   

OK, maybe for a business where name/image recognition is very important... maybe the owner (who is also the business spokesman) or something... or maybe the top salespeople.   

But, in this day and age - I don't want anyone wilfing around the internet to easily discover where I work.  Maybe it's because I'm a woman.   


So, to answer your question - I see all sorts of stuff while wilfing around the internet.   I'm generally skeptical so if I was looking at a businesses webpage and the About page (I do look at those) and if I were to see more than the business owner(s) smiling faces on it, I'd be highly skeptical and assume it was "marketing" and not an accurate representation of anything other than intending to give me a "feel good"  - like a package of cookies with a "All Natural!" on the label.    

FWIW:  I'm guessing most businesses don't want to pay for the constant updating required to have specific employees on their webpage (they need to get good photos of their employees - their badge ID pic or drivers license photo may not be very good,  and then anytime someone quits or new hires arrive the page needs to be updated.)       

I know LOTS of businesses have internal pages with names and photos - but those are INTERNAL and not for public access.      

[Ryan]

I hadn't thought about this aspect, but there has been plenty of times where I've know the size of the company and saw the way they portrayed themselves online and chuckled.  To be fair, when my dad had his small business and had someone important coming, he would have all of us kids (teens/20's) come to work so we could park our cars in front and work.  He said small is good, but too small is not good.

[Deleted]

Our brokerage firm puts photos and links to bios for all their front-facing employees. I think it's extremely important that we know these folks because of the trust we place in their fiduciary responsibility. Should my local taqueria do the same? No.

[Opti]

Oct 17, 2022 8:50:17 GMT -5 Tiny said:

I find it really weird and creepy that a business would put the names (and photos) of their ACTUAL employees on their public access webpage.   

OK, maybe for a business where name/image recognition is very important... maybe the owner (who is also the business spokesman) or something... or maybe the top salespeople.   

But, in this day and age - I don't want anyone wilfing around the internet to easily discover where I work.  Maybe it's because I'm a woman.   


So, to answer your question - I see all sorts of stuff while wilfing around the internet.   I'm generally skeptical so if I was looking at a businesses webpage and the About page (I do look at those) and if I were to see more than the business owner(s) smiling faces on it, I'd be highly skeptical and assume it was "marketing" and not an accurate representation of anything other than intending to give me a "feel good"  - like a package of cookies with a "All Natural!" on the label.    

FWIW:  I'm guessing most businesses don't want to pay for the constant updating required to have specific employees on their webpage (they need to get good photos of their employees - their badge ID pic or drivers license photo may not be very good,  and then anytime someone quits or new hires arrive the page needs to be updated.)       

I know LOTS of businesses have internal pages with names and photos - but those are INTERNAL and not for public access.      

Dealerships sometimes do this especially for top salesmen and those who head the parts and service departments. Yes it does require work to update, but I think many do not.

[teen persuasion]

Ratliff noticed several anomalies in the "employees," with one wearing only one earring and another with one side of his face shaved closer than the other.

And Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) software sounds so Orwellian.