A.I. Came for Our Jobs, Our Art, and Our Souls. Now It's Coming for Our Birds.

[marmar]

A.I. Came for Our Jobs, Our Art, and Our Souls. Now It’s Coming for Our Birds.
Photos of A.I.–generated birds like the “Santa cardinal” are all over the internet and social media.

BY NICHOLAS LUND
DEC 28, 202312:00 PM




(Slate) Last week, a friend tagged me in a post about a weird bird. I’m used to it—as a known bird guy, friends are constantly making me aware when some new study comes out or a rare bird shows up. But this post was different.

From a Facebook page called “Route 370—Newfoundland News & Weather,” the post had what appeared to be a photo of a red-and-white bird perched on a snowy branch. The text read: “A rare Red and White cardinal in it’s festive colors makes an appearance in Canada. It’s unusual look is caused by Gynandromorphy.”

I’ve seen northern cardinals with gynandromorphism (meaning that an individual exhibits characteristics of both sexes), and they don’t have any of the same colors as the Facebook “Santa cardinal” bird. It also had a thin, yellow bill like a chicken instead of the thick, orange bill of our northern cardinal—a trait that gynandromorphism wouldn’t alter. This wasn’t a cardinal, clearly, but what was it?

Reverse image search was no help, but when I looked closer, the answer was obvious. The bird appeared to have three feet, and the end of its tail was somehow covered in snow. This wasn’t a real photo at all—it was a photorealistic fantasy created by A.I. Ugh. ..........(more)

https://slate.com/technology/2023/12/ai-generated-birds-santa-cardinal.html

[CrispyQ]

1. The baby peacock in full colors was the one I LOLd at most. -nt

[mopinko]

3. yeah, i saw that 1. have to admit, it was adorable.

[mopinko]

2. i've been ranting on my friends on fb about this crap.

folks do seem to b getting better at spotting bad ai. but i suspect that only leads to better ai. or at least better after processing to hide it.
i’ve seen a few imaginary birds. this 1 is the most plausible.

[Ferrets are Cool]

4. It is truly a shame that we cannot trust anything we see or read any longer.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Next: Legal contracts generated and interpreted by AI programs.

If you think it's not happening already, I have a bridge I want to sell you.

[Wingus Dingus]

6. I saw that stupid photo--doesn't look like a cardinal. Looked fake.