- Which mountain landscape photograph is real?
2. Which pizza photograph is real?
3. Which painting is a real Monet?
4. Which portrait is real?
5. Which piece of art was made by Banksy?
In the first set of images, or the mountain landscape photographs, image A is AI-generated and image B is taken by a human, with 70% of Marymount students guessing correctly. Next, in set number 2, or the pizza photos, image A is taken by a human, and image B is AI-generated, with only 30% of students guessing correctly. Then, in set number 3, or the Monet paintings, image A is AI-generated and image B is a real Monet, with 70% of students guessing correctly. Set number 4, or the portraits of a man and a woman, were a trick question with both images being AI-generated. That being said, 70% of students guessed that image A was real and 30% of students guessed that image B was real. Lastly, we have the fifth set of images, or the Banksys, with image A being AI-generated and image B being a real Banksy. This time, only 50% of students could distinguish the real piece of art. This goes to show just how realistic and convincing AI-generated art can be.
Did you know that AI-generated art has been around for years? It may seem like AI-generated art has only become prevalent within the last year or so; however, it has been around for a decade, and some even claim that it has been around since the mid-20th century. However, the recent boom in AI-generated art likely stems from the new and highly developed algorithms that can create hyper-realistic images by simply pushing a button. All you have to do is write a brief description of what you would like the image to be and possibly the style of art you’d like it to be in, creating a unique and personalized image of anything your heart desires. As fun as this may seem, it has sparked immense controversy over the ability to spread false information with these hyper-realistic AI-generated “photos” and art.
Some may argue that these algorithms are not yet advanced enough to trick people into believing that an AI-generated image is real, however, I quizzed 10 Marymount students to debunk this argument by seeing if they could differentiate between AI-generated art and human art. The quiz consists of 5 sets of photos or pieces of art. Each set of images includes an AI-generated image and a man-made image. The 10 Marymount students were asked which image from each 5 sets was AI-generated and which was man-made. Here are the images in question.
Whether or not you have trouble telling the difference between real and fake art, it is always important to check your sources and not fall victim to these hyper-realistic AI-generated images. Although the human eye cannot always recognize works of art that take much more time and effort to create, there are often clues you may look out for. One of the more evident clues would be if an image or video has a watermark or disclaimer on the image itself, in the caption, or elsewhere stating that it is AI-generated, especially if the image is found on social media. Other ways include paying closer attention to details like anatomical inconsistencies (such as an arm that is too long or a face that somehow fuses into the background scenery), unnaturally smooth skin textures, or even if it is difficult to make out what exactly an image is. We see this specifically in the Banksy photos, where the AI-generated image is extremely ambiguous as to what exactly it truly is, or the portraits where the woman in image B has unnaturally smooth skin which strands of hair seem to blend into at times. Ultimately, it is important to take what we see online with a grain of salt because even with these identifying clues, AI can be nearly impossible to detect at times.