U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday dismissed the backlash against an artificial intelligence-generated image of him as the pope posted by the White House on social media, saying it was a harmless joke, but communications experts said they did not see the funny side.
The weekend AI-generated posts of Trump dressed in white papal vestments and another of him wielding one of the red light sabers preferred by villains in the "Star Wars" movies appeared typical of the provocation the president employs to energize supporters and troll critics.
Since returning to office on Jan. 20, Trump has dominated news cycles. In an otherwise relatively quiet weekend, the two images ensured Trump stayed a major topic of conversation on social media and beyond.
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