Bing Is Generating Images of SpongeBob Doing 9/11

· Oct 4, 2023 at 9:21 AM

Microsoft's Bing Image Creator lets beloved characters fly planes toward tall buildings, illustrating the struggles of generative AI models have with copyright and filtering.

“spongebob sitting in the cockpit of a plane, flying toward two tall skyscrapers" made by Bing Image Creator — Made by Bing Image Creator

🖥️

Sign up above for free access to this article.

I generated a bunch of AI images of beloved fictional characters doing 9/11, and I’m not the only one.

Microsoft’s Bing Image Creator, produced by one of the most brand-conscious companies in the world, is heavily filtered: images of real humans aren’t allowed, along with a long list of scenarios and themes like violence, terrorism, and hate speech. It launched in March, and since then, users have been putting it through its paces. That people have found a way to easily produce images of Kirby, Mickey Mouse or Spongebob Squarepants doing 9/11 with Microsoft’s heavily restricted tools shows that even the most well-resourced companies in the world are still struggling to navigate issues of moderation and copyrighted material around generative AI.