Artificial Intelligence and Images

The Spot-the-Difference assignment was created and first piloted by CSB+SJU librarians and Instructional Technology Specialists in December of 2022. This single-session exercise requires students to consider how generative artificial intelligence - specifically images -  shows up in their daily lives across the internet.

After a short introduction and training. students are required to manipulate a provided historical image using the generative AI platform Adobe Firefly, related to an assigned motive. Once completing 3-4 changes, students then swap their image with another group, and are tasked with finding the original historical photo and spotting the differences between the two using Google Reverse Image Search. During the session, students are also given reverse-image search strategies to find and verify the original photos to help them identify misinformation and disinformation related to the spread of generative AI technology.

A depiction of how Adobe Firefly can be used to create edits to a historical image.

This assignment exposes students to the speed and ease in which generative AI software can be used to create and spread misinformation. By manipulating the images and noticing the small detectible alterations in their own edits, it refines how students scrutinize and evaluate the images they received from other groups. A librarian provides instruction about how to use reverse-image search to find the unedited version of the photo and a dependable source for the original information about the image. The assignment ends with a guided conversation about the SIFT technique to help students draw connections between the assignment and their personal experiences.

This assignment supports AI fluency by providing technical training, hands-on experience, and strategies to navigate the technology and its real-world uses. Generative AI text options, like Chat GPT and others, have received a lot of attention in the past, but it is becoming increasingly important to understand how generative AI images, video, and audio will transform content on traditional media and social media platforms in the immediate future. We believe this assignment gives students the tools and experiences to be able to better detect generative AI created or altered images in their daily lives.

An example of a student group's work during a previous session.