Lesson video

Hello, my name is Miss Willow, and I'm going to be guiding you through today's learning.

Today's lesson is called Recognising fake and AI-generated images, and it fits into our unit called Media influence: how do I decide what is true online? I'm really looking forward to teaching you today, so let's make a start.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain why there are many fake and AI-generated images online, and you'll be able to identify ways to recognise them.

Before we get started, we need to go over some ground rules.

These help to make sure that everyone stays safe and comfortable throughout today's lesson.

First of all, Laura tells us that we need to listen to others.

That means we're not going to interrupt other people if they're speaking.

Jacob says we need to not have any judgement.

That means we're not going to judge other people for what they think, what they feel, or what they've experienced.

Andeep says that we need to respect each other's privacy, and that means we're not going to ask anyone any personal questions as this can make some people feel uncomfortable.

And finally, Izzy says that we can choose our level of participation.

That means it's up to us how much we want to join in.

We're now going to go through the keywords for today's lesson.

These are going to come up multiple times throughout today's lesson, so it's really important that we have a good understanding of what each word means.

First of all, we've got the word generate.

This means to create or make something.

Realistic.

In this context, this is a picture or image that looks like a real photo.

Artificial intelligence, and this is often called AI.

This is computer programmes that can learn and think in a similar way to humans.

And finally, we have the word identify.

This means to spot or recognise something.

Today's lesson is split into three learning cycles.

First of all, we've got what are AI-generated images? Next, we're going to look at, how can I tell if an image is real? And finally, we'll be able to answer the question, why might someone use fake images online? Let's make a start on the first learning cycle, what are AI-generated images? People are now able to use digital devices and the internet to generate realistic images and videos.

This is because more people have access to artificial intelligence.

And remember, this is often called AI.

Although the idea of AI has been around since the start of computing history, it's become far more popular and powerful within recent years.

Artificial intelligence has recently become more popular because it has become generative, and this means that we're able to give a digital device instructions to create something, and it will typically be able to generate this quickly and effectively.

For example, Izzy could say, create a list of primary school subjects.

And if she said this to an AI programme, it would do this for her.

It would say, "Sure! Writing, maths, history, RSHE," and all the other primary school subjects.

AI-generated images are created by AI as a result of a person giving them an instruction.

For example, Izzy could say, create an image of purple flowers with green leaves, and it would be able to do this really quickly.

Jun asks, "Does AI just search the internet for images that match the instruction and give you that?" So the reason that AI-generated images are different to an image found when searching the internet is that they're not made by an artist or person.

They are fake images created by a digital device when it has been given an instruction by a person.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're getting on.

Is this statement true or false? The images generated by AI are real images created by people.

What do you think? Pause the video, tell the person next to you, tell me, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said false.

But why? Images created by AI are fake images generated by a digital device when someone gives it an instruction.

These images are therefore not created by a person.

Well done if you said the same thing.

AI-generated images and videos are commonly found online because many people now have access to generative AI and images.

Videos and images do not need to be real in order to be uploaded to the internet.

So for example, this photo here, which is AI-generated, is able to be uploaded successfully to the internet even though it is not a real image.

People can also share AI-generated images or videos without realising that what they're sharing isn't real.

Someone could look at a photo and say, "What a lovely photo." They could then decide to share it.

And this results in this fake image being shared lots of times across the internet.

This means that AI-generated images and videos can spread quickly across the internet.

Okay, we are now going to do a check for understanding to see how you're getting on.

Which of these statements are true? A, videos and images do not need to be real to be uploaded to the internet.

B, everyone who shares AI images knows that the images aren't real.

Or C, AI-generated images and videos can spread quickly across the internet.

What do you think, which of these statements are true? Pause the video, tell the person next to you, tell me, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said A and C.

It is true that videos and images do not need to be real to be uploaded to the internet.

And it is also true that AI-generated images and videos can spread quickly across the internet.

Well done if you said the same thing.

We are now going to put your learning from this learning cycle into practise.

You're doing a fantastic job so far, so keep it up.

Rewrite Aisha and Jacob's conversation so that it doesn't contain any mistakes.

Aisha says that AI-generated images are created by real people and not many people have access to generative AI.

Jacob says that it is rare to see AI-generated images and videos online, and everyone who shares them knows they are fake.

I'd like you to correct these conversations so that they don't contain any mistakes.

Pause the video, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Okay, let's have a look and see what I got and you can see if you've got something similar.

So Aisha might now say something like, "AI-generated images are created by a digital device, and many people have access to generative AI." Jacob might now say, "It is common to see AI-generated images and videos online, and not everyone who shares them knows they're fake." Well done if you said this or something similar.

We're now going to move on to our second learning cycle, how can I tell if an image is real? It's very difficult to identify fake images and videos when we see them.

It's really important to know the different ways that we can try to identify if an image is real or fake.

Lucas tells us that when we see an image or video online, we should always think about if it is likely to be real or fake, and we should never just assume that anything we see on the internet is true.

Izzy asks, "Can we tell if an image is AI-generated just by looking at it closely?" What do you think? Do you think you can answer Izzy's question? So let's have a look at the answer to Izzy's question.

Although we can tell that an image is made by AI in some cases, this is becoming more difficult as AI gets better at producing realistic images.

Do you remember that realistic was one of our keywords at the start of the lesson? Can you remember what it means? Realistic means that it looks real.

Well done if you remembered this.

It's really important to know different strategies, this means ways, that can help us to identify AI images.

One way that we can tell that an image is real is by asking ourselves a question.

Laura asks, "Does it seem like it could be real?" If Laura has seen this image, we can guess that it's unlikely to be real because we know that dragons aren't real.

Therefore, this image is fake.

We can also ask like Alex asks, "Does it look right?" If we saw this image, we could make a good guess that it's unlikely to be real because this girl in the picture doesn't have any skin texture, which it would if it was a photograph.

Therefore, we can guess that this image is fake.

Let's do another check for understanding to see how you're getting on.

What questions can we ask ourselves to see if an image is real? A, does it seem like it could be real; B, does it appear online; or C, does it look right? Pause the video, tell the person next to you, tell me, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said A and C.

If we see an image online, we could ask ourselves, does it seem like it could be real? And does it look right? The reason that we wouldn't ask ourselves does it appear online is because not everything has to be real in order to be uploaded to the internet.

The internet is full of fake images and videos.

AI images show up less frequently in online searches.

This means we can search for the image we aren't sure about online, and if it does show up on other websites, it's more likely to be a real image.

Lucas tells us that we should always ask a trusted adult for help when doing this.

Trustworthy websites rarely use AI images without making it obvious that the image is fake.

When trying to identify if an image is real, you can also use the website that it came from as a clue.

If the image is on a trusted website, it's more likely to be real.

If you are not sure if the website is a trusted website, you can always ask a trusted adult to help you.

It's important to remember that even if an image is not AI-generated, it could still be edited in some way and therefore not be completely real.

Computer programmes can edit and manipulate photos and videos so that even if it was real originally, parts of the photo or video have been changed.

This can be very difficult to spot.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Can you tell which of these images is likely to be real, A, B, or C? Pause the video, tell the person next to you, tell me, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said A.

A is the image that is likely to be real; the others are likely to be fake.

Well done if you said the same thing.

Now let's put your learning from this learning cycle into practise.

Explain to Andeep the three ways that you can check if an image is real.

Andeep says that, "Sometimes I'm not sure if images online are real.

How can I check to see if an image I see is real or if it is AI-generated?" Pause the video, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Okay, let's have a look and see what I put, and you can see if you got something similar.

So you might have said that Andeep could ask himself, does it look like it could be real? He could also ask himself, does it look right? He could search for the image online with a trusted adult to see if the image comes up.

He could also check the website that it's come from to see if it's from a trusted website.

Well done if you said the same thing.

We're now moving on to our final learning cycle.

Well done on your fantastic hard work so far.

I'm really proud of you, so keep it up.

Our final learning cycle is called Why might someone use fake images online? People can use fake images and videos for many different purposes.

They can be used to trick us or make us feel a certain way.

For example, we could feel angry or shocked.

Sofia says that people are more likely to share fake images if it makes them feel a strong emotion.

People are also more likely to share fake images if someone that they know has shared one, particularly if it's someone that they trust.

For example, in this scenario, Aarnav has seen an image online that Henry has shared with him.

Henry is one of his friends.

Henry has shared with Aarnav an outfit that he thinks looks really cool, and Aarnav has said that the outfit is really cool, so he's going to share it online.

Because Aarnav is friends with Henry, he might not think that Henry is sharing a fake image with him.

This means that he's sharing it online for other people to see.

People may also use a fake image to push a message that they believe in, so they might generate an image that makes it look like something has happened that supports the message that they're trying to send.

For example, they might generate an image or a video of a politician saying something that they didn't say because this supports the message that they want to send.

Someone might also use a fake image because they're really quick and easy to produce.

A company could use an AI-generated image in their advertising as it might be cheaper to generate an AI image than it is to pay an artist to create a real image.

Companies can also use AI to create images of products that could exist in the future.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're getting on.

True or false? People may create and share fake images to try and push a message that they believe in.

What do you think? Is this true or false? Pause the video, tell the person next to you, tell me, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is true.

It is true that people can create and share fake images to try and push a message that they believe in.

Well done if you got this right.

Sometimes fake images are used to trick us.

They can trick us into believing a lie.

For example, they might use fake images to lie about who they are online.

They could use a fake image to make a product look better quality than it is, and this can encourage us to spend money.

They could use fake images and logos to trick us into clicking on links which steal our data, and this is something called phishing.

Our data is the detailed information stored about us online.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Which are reasons why someone might use a fake image online? Is it A, to pretend to be someone else online; B, to steal our information; or C, to accurately show a product's quality? There might be more than one correct answer for this one, so think carefully.

Pause the video, tell the person next to you, tell me, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said A and B.

Someone might use a fake image online because they want to pretend to be someone else online and they might want to steal our information.

Well done if you got this right.

Fake news is another way that we can be tricked by fake images.

This is where news articles and posts look like they're spreading real information about something, but the information is fake.

For example, someone might share something online.

It says, "Scientist turns bird into an orange." This is an example of a quote or event being taken out of context.

It makes it sound like something is true when it is actually fake.

Fake news can involve fake images to make untrue events look more realistic so that more people believe that they happened.

For example, they might use a fake image accompanying this headline, "Bird is now an orange".

Because people can find it difficult to identify fake images, people are more likely to believe that this fake news story is true because a fake image has been used alongside it.

Fake news can be dangerous, especially fake news that uses fake images to look more realistic.

It can have a big impact on politics, health, people's opinions, and this means that it's important to be able to identify fake images and fake news so that we reduce the risk of us being tricked.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Is this statement true or false? Fake images are used in fake news articles so that people know that the story is not true.

What do you think? Is this true or false? Pause the video, tell the person next to you, tell me, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said false.

But why? Fake images are used to make the fake news article seem more realistic as it is difficult to identify fake images.

Well done if you said the same thing.

Now let's move on to your final practise task.

Give one example of how each person could use a fake image.

One person says, "I want to steal people's information." Another says, "I want to sell products online." Someone else says, "I have strong opinions." Someone else says, "I want to make friends online." And finally, someone says, "I want to spread fake news." Can you think of an example of how each of these people could use a fake image? Pause the video, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Okay, your examples could include: for the person who wants to steal people's information, you might have said that they could use a fake image or logo to get someone to click on a link.

Can you remember what this was called? This was called phishing.

Well done if you remembered.

For the person who said, "I want to sell products online," you might have said that they could use a fake image to make a product look higher quality.

For the person who said, "I have strong opinions," you might have said that they could use a fake image to communicate a message about their beliefs.

For the person who said, "I want to make friends online," you might have said that they could use a fake image to make it look like they're someone else.

And finally, for the person who said, "I want to spread fake news," you might have said that they could use a fake image to make their fake news story look more realistic.

Well done if you got this correct or if you had any similar answers.

We're now going to summarise everything that we've learned in today's lesson.

Humans can generate realistic images and videos using artificial intelligence, and this is often called AI.

AI-generated images and videos are common online as they can be shared by many people who often believe that they are real.

It is very difficult to identify fake images and videos, so it is important to know how we can tell if something is AI-generated.

People use fake images and videos for many different purposes, such as advertising or spreading a particular message.

And finally, we've learned that sometimes fake images are used to trick us into believing a lie, so knowing how to identify fake images is part of keeping us safe.

If you have any questions or worries about today's lesson, it's really important that you speak to a trusted adult so they can help you.

There are also some organisations on the screen who are there to support you if you have any questions or need any extra support.

Well done for your fantastic hard work today.

I'm so proud of you, and I hope to see you again soon.