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upstart [soylentnews.org] writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:

Pro-Amazon Twitter account sure seems to have a computer-generated avatar [dailydot.com]:

A self-proclaimed Amazon employee sharing anti-unionization posts on Twitter is raising eyebrows over claims that the account could actually be fake.

The account in question, @AmazonFCDarla, first appeared on Friday and immediately began defending the online retailer.

But many quickly noticed inconsistencies in the alleged Amazon employee’s profile photo. Specifically, a pair of glasses being worn by the user appeared artificially-generated.

When confronted on the issue, the account claimed that the glasses had in fact been added with an app. The admission was later deleted.

As reported by Gizmodo [gizmodo.com], the image on the account appears to have been made with “Generated Photos,” a service that uses artificial intelligence to create images of faces.

Gizmodo was even able to create an image that looked incredibly similar [generated.photos] to the one used by the @AmazonFCDarla account.

So who is to blame for the account? For starters, Amazon does run a program where employees at fulfillment centers are compensated for defending the company online.

A 2019 report from Bellingcat [bellingcat.com] claimed that employees who enrolled could receive one day of paid vacation as well as a $50 Amazon gift card.

But does that means Amazon is behind this particular account? Amazon has thus far not responded to inquires about @AmazonFCDarla. Many experts, however, believe the account is actually being run by a troll.

In one tweet, for example, @AmazonFCDarla pushed back against the necessity of lunch breaks.

“A lunch break is great if there’s time for it but people shouldn’t come to expect them,” the account wrote. “It’s a courtesy from management imho.”

Either way, it remains unclear who exactly is behind the account and whether they have any affiliation with Amazon.

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