The Role of Generative AI in the creation of fake news
22
October
2023
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Nowadays, social media platforms struggle to remove all the fake news content that is posted on their websites and this is a pertinent problem. The concept of fake news is best described as spreading misleading information, which can cause confusion and harm. It can also lead to divided social groups that ridicule each other. An example of this is the COVID-19 pandemic, where false information was spread about the virus and the vaccine that was created to treat the virus. This created groups within society, one that was in favor of the vaccine and one that was strongly against the vaccine, claiming things such as that the government put a chip in it because they want to track you.
For this blog post, I was interested in how generative AI plays a role in the creation of fake news and how easy it might be to create convincing news videos. To do so, I tried to use the tool “Synthesys” to create a very short news flash about Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, and Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch vice prime minister, dating in Amsterdam. I’ve added this short video below and in my opinion, it is evident that this isn’t a real news video and that it is not very convincing either. However, this video was only created in the span of 5 minutes (including creating an account) and given that information, the video actually looks quite okay. It is worth studying how long it would take to really create a convincing news article using various generative AI tools.
An ethical question that the creators of generative AI tools should consider is how they can control the content that is created using their tools. A good example of this is ChatGPT, which I tried to use to create a fake news story or more specifically, a story about Mark Rutte and Sigrid Kaag dating. In both cases, it told me that it could not assist me with that because it involves personal information.
I think this is a really good development and more developers of generative AI tools should consider taking these same measures. If there won’t be any or too little measures, the amount of fake news will exponentially increase and at some point, it will be too hard to distinguish the real news from the fake news. This might result in even more confusion and mistrust in media sources and institutions, which will result in a divided society and political polarization and this should be avoided at all costs.
What do you think about the role of generative AI in the creation of fake news? Let me know in the comments below!
NEWSFLASH – MARK RUTTE DATING SIGRID KAAG
Creating a children’s book using AI
5
October
2023
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As a child, I used to read many books and, in the beginning, it were mostly books with a lot of drawings and art. With the introduction and mainstream usage of generative AI, such as ChatGPT, and AI image generators, such as DALL-E, the industry of writing could be heavily affected (AI & Insights). For this blog post, I decided to create my own short children’s book called “The Brave Squirrel Sammy & The Wicked Crow” using ChatGPT and the Image Creator from Microsoft Bing, which makes use of DALL-E 3. If you’re interested, you can read the book at the end of this blog.
I was not the first one to come up with this idea and there have been many others that have done this and even sold some copies of the book (Popli, 2022; Yeddula, 2023; Weeldenburg & Depardieu, 2023). It is actually quite simple to do. You ask ChatGPT to create a fairy tale for children and, additionally, add your own preferences to the prompt. Subsequently, you create prompts for the image creator based on the text provided by ChatGPT and you end up with a simple text and beautiful images that you can combine to create a children’s book.
Of course, the book had some flaws, especially the images, which aren’t all perfectly in line with each other, but it should be enough given that a child probably won’t notice the little details and the story doesn’t have to be very complex. Besides, if you want to make the story more complex, give the characters more detail and make the plot more tense, you probably can by using better prompts.
Ethical Dilemma
However, I think it’s important to consider the ownership and copyrights of AI-generated books and art. Many authors and illustrators are not happy with people creating children’s books with such minimal effort in order to earn easy money (Popli, 2022). They argue that there should be better regulations regarding how art is used to train AI algorithms since the models are trained using the existing work of artists. The artists don’t get any compensation for this and they also did not give consent for their artworks and literature being used. Recently, a US federal judge has ruled that art created by artificial intelligence without any human input cannot be copyrighted and the Copyright Office also rejected a request for copyright on images created using Midjourney, even though the artist’s prompts were part of the creative (Brittain, 2023).
Personally, I think (children’s) books can be created using input from generative AI in order to generate interesting ideas and characters. However, to really create a good and interesting book, there should still be a human that unifies all these ideas and adds details in order to create a good and complex plot. Let me know in the comments what your opinion is on this topic and don’t forget to read my book below!
Book – The Brave Squirrel Sammy & The Wicked Crow
Once upon a time, in a lush and vibrant forest, there lived a brave little squirrel named Sammy. Sammy was known far and wide for his courage and kindness. He had a warm heart and a fluffy tail that always twitched with excitement.
In the same forest, there dwelled a wicked crow named Grizzle. Grizzle was envious of Sammy’s popularity and happiness. He had dark feathers and a cackling laugh that sent shivers down the spines of the other forest creatures.
One sunny morning, as Sammy was collecting acorns for his family, he heard a faint cry for help coming from the tallest tree. He looked up and saw a tiny bird trapped in the crow’s nest at the top. Without a second thought, Sammy scurried up the tree with his nimble paws and saved the trembling bird.
“Thank you, Sammy, you’re a hero!” chirped the grateful bird, and word of Sammy’s bravery spread throughout the forest.
Grizzle, the wicked crow, couldn’t stand Sammy’s newfound fame. He flew to the tallest tree, where Sammy had once again become a hero, and said, “I challenge you, Sammy the Squirrel, to a contest of bravery. Whoever can bring me the shiniest, most precious object from the Enchanted Meadow will be declared the true hero of the forest.”
Sammy accepted the challenge with a determined nod. The Enchanted Meadow was a mysterious place filled with dazzling wonders and hidden dangers. It was guarded by the ancient and wise Owl of Wisdom, who protected its treasures.
The next day, Sammy set off on his quest to find the shiniest object. Along the way, he encountered many creatures in need and helped them without hesitation. He gave a lost bunny directions back home, helped a snail cross a busy path, and even shared his acorn stash with a hungry raccoon.
Meanwhile, Grizzle, the wicked crow, had a very different approach. He cheated, lied, and tricked his way through the forest. He scared away the bunny, bullied the snail, and stole from the raccoon. Grizzle had no kindness in his heart.
Finally, Sammy reached the entrance of the Enchanted Meadow. The Owl of Wisdom appeared before him, its eyes shining with ancient knowledge. Sammy asked for the shiniest object, and the wise owl gave him a beautiful golden acorn. It sparkled like the sun.
Grizzle, on the other hand, arrived at the Enchanted Meadow in a disheveled state, with stolen trinkets and a bad temper. When he demanded the shiniest object, the owl saw through his wickedness and gave him a shiny stone, dull and lifeless.
Back in the forest, Sammy returned with his golden acorn, which gleamed in the sunlight. The forest creatures cheered for him, and Grizzle’s plan had failed.
The wicked crow was left feeling miserable and alone, while Sammy continued to be a hero, not because of shiny objects, but because of his kind heart and brave actions. The forest was a happier place thanks to Sammy, and Grizzle learned that true heroes are not made of shiny things but of love and courage.
And so, the brave little squirrel, Sammy, lived happily ever after, teaching all the creatures of the forest that kindness and bravery are the most precious treasures of all. And Grizzle, the wicked crow, eventually learned the error of his ways and became a better bird, finding his own path to happiness.
And that, dear children, is the tale of “The Brave Little Squirrel and the Wicked Crow.”
References
AI & Insights. (2023, April 19). The future of Creative Writing – AI & Insights – Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/muthoni-wanyoike/the-future-of-creative-writing-c7d397dff6a4
Brittain, B. (2023, August 21). AI-generated art cannot receive copyrights, US court says. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/legal/ai-generated-art-cannot-receive-copyrights-us-court-says-2023-08-21/
Popli, N. (2022, December 14). He used AI to publish a children’s book in a weekend. artists are not happy about it. Time. https://time.com/6240569/ai-childrens-book-alice-and-sparkle-artists-unhappy/
Weeldenburg, N., & Depardieu, A. (2023). Creating children Book Using ChatGPT. International Journal of Art, Design, and Metaverse, 1(2).
Yeddula, S. C. (2023, April 4). How I wrote, illustrated and published 3 children’s books assisted by AI. Medium. https://generativeai.pub/how-i-wrote-illustrated-and-published-3-childrens-books-assisted-by-ai-d25f1474b04
