I’m scrolling Facebook. I see a black-and-white photo from 1907 posted by a page that posts historical photos. The image is very clear… suspiciously clear. The lighting doesn’t look quite right. I notice other small details within the photo. And then I sigh loudly and go right to the comments where hundreds of people are commenting “Beautiful!”, “Reminds me of when I was a kid” and “Fresh air, nice for the children.” Occasionally, one or two people reply with “It’s fake. It’s AI.” and “It’s not real.”

(Click to see a larger version.)

There are plenty to choose from but my favorite details in this AI-generated image are the shoe-wearing desk leg and the unattached arm laying across a girl’s desk. This girl lost her arm but hasn’t had time to pop it back on. Ya know, like back in the good ol’ days?

This is being a history lover in 2024 and it’s exhausting. Every photo must be carefully scrutinized.

Historian and YouTuber Karolina Żebrowska hit the nail on the head with her recent video, Is AI Ruining Our Perception of History? Highly recommend it.

As she points out, these hundreds of people falling for AI because they want it to be real. I’ve now heard of some scammers who hunt down these more gullible users via comments sections because their scams are made specifically to prey on people more likely to believe everything they see online, including things that are too good to be true.

I am firmly opposed to the use of AI for the use of creating images and text. It is unethical and harmful to our planet. Sometimes the use of AI by scammers can be hilariously bad and sometimes it can put lives in danger.

It’s not like some fake old-timey photos is going to hurt anyone. Right? After all, it’s just a form of disinformation and disinformation never causes harm… right?

Right?

This is kind of unrelated but this exchange made me laugh.