AI-generated photos of Pope Francis playing basketball are taking over internet, here’s why

Pope Francis is a man of many talents. He's the head of the Catholic Church, a function he's been performing since 2013. Pope is 86, yet many photos of him playing basketball have recently surfaced online.

These photos have been generated by AI and are not authentic. However, they have since gone viral on almost every social media platform. Many users find them funny, which is why they share them with their followers.

Most social media users have realized that the photos of Pope Francis are AI-generated. However, they look very realistic, and it's no surprise that some people believe they are real.

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Pope Francis did not play basketball, but he may be a basketball fan

AI-generated images have become very popular over the past few months. Surprisingly, Pope Francis has become their main star and has been shown in many different scenarios.

AI artists have chosen Pope simply to show that he can have fun as well. While we still don't know the creator behind the photos of Pope playing basketball, it's likely that the person who made them used them for humorous purposes.

Pope has been an internet star for the past few months (Image via Sportskeeda)

While there is no evidence that Pope has ever played basketball throughout his life, he has been a soccer fan. Furthermore, the prominent religious figure has also met several basketball stars.

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Back in 2015, the Harlem Globetrotters visited the Vatican and met with Pope Francis. They interacted with Pope and even tried to teach him how to spin a basketball on his fingertip.

The basketball team ended the Vatican visit by giving Pope his own Globetrotters jersey.

Besides AI-generated photos of Pope playing basketball, he's also been featured in many other scenarios

In 2020, the 86-year-old religious leader met with the Orlando Magic and received their jersey as well. In addition, the Magic gave him a special gold basketball as a gift.

A year later, Pope received an autographed basketball from John Calipari, a legendary coach who's been with the Kentucky Wildcats since 2009. The ball was given to him by Jim Sichko, a priest from Kentucky.

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Considering how popular Pope has been lately, we will likely see more of his AI-generated photos in the future. Many of these photos will look very realistic, but it's important to keep in mind that they are generated by artificial intelligence (AI).