See also Nixon's moon disaster speech

After having read both articles, it looks likes the photos aren't AI-faked, but photograped spaces (of the original place, mind you) filled with 3D avatars using FX lightning techniques. If you look a little closer you can actually make out, that these are models.

It's the accompagnying texts that were generated from similar source material.

The buildings and landscapes are real, but all the people in them are fake and the entire text of the book was generated via ML. And when it comes to creating artificial realities, those are the parts that matter the most. In fact, the authenticity of the setting amplifies the verisimilitude of the nonexistent inhabitants (sort of in the same way that the Nixon video is more convincing because it's based on an actual video of Nixon). And no one realized what he had done; he basically had to expose himself. And it's only going to get worse.

I was surprised that the coverage of the Nixon video I read did not mention the fact that the Apple alternate history science fiction TV series For All Mankind uses faked versions of speeches from Nixon, Reagan, and probably others. In that context it's pretty clear what they're doing (compare the infamous Orson Welles War of the Worlds radio broadcast), but it's not hard to see how it could be used destructively.

We are caught up a little in the world of content generation, are we?

Indeed. In both senses.