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Virginia Basora-Gonzalez was first arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for possessing over 40 grams of fentanyl and aiding and abetting.
The images showed the drug dealer breaking down in tears during her arrest. (Photo Credit: X)
OpenAI’s latest GPT-4o model has taken the internet by storm with its new image creation feature. The feature, which lets users create anime-style portraits inspired by Studio Ghibli, became an instant hit after OpenAI founder Sam Altman updated his profile picture on X (formerly Twitter) with a Ghibli-style AI-generated image. Now, the White House has jumped on the trend that didn’t sit well with social media users. It shared a Ghibli-style meme of convicted drug dealer Virginia Basora-Gonzalez. The post was shared as a reply to another post by the White House on X.
The original post stated, “Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, a previously deported alien felon convicted of fentanyl trafficking, was arrested by @ICEgov in Philadelphia after illegally reentering the U.S.”
The images showed Basora-Gonzalez breaking down in tears during her arrest. She was first arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Pennsylvania for possessing over 40 grams of fentanyl and aiding and abetting, the New York Post reported. She later pleaded guilty to the charges and received a sentence of 12 months and one day in prison along with four years of supervised release. However, before the completion of the whole sentence, she was deported to the Dominican Republic in October 2020.
At some point, Basora-Gonzalez managed to re-enter the US illegally. On March 7, a confidential source informed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of her return. This information led ICE agents to La Tierra Del Caribe Restaurant in North Philadelphia where she was reportedly working as a cook. Agents arrested her outside the restaurant soon after.
See the post here:
The White House’s decision to use a Ghibli-style image for such a serious incident received backlash from social media users.
One user commented, “This is horrible leadership. I’m on board with strict borders. But mocking them? This is embarrassing and shameful.”
Another said, “This is not sending the message you think it’s sending.”
Someone called it “weird,” while a person wrote, “This is utterly tasteless beyond all conception. America, is this what your country stands for these days?”
An individual questioned, “I get she’s a fentanyl dealer and that’s bad, but why even post this?”
Studio Ghibli is a well-known Japanese animation studio that has created many imaginative and emotional films. It was founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata.
Miyazaki has been openly critical of AI-generated art. He once called it “an insult to life itself.”
He said, “I can’t watch this stuff and find it interesting. Whoever creates this stuff has no idea what pain is whatsoever. I am utterly disgusted. If you want to make creepy stuff, you can go ahead and do it. I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.”
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