WARNING: We’re living in the Wild West of online times and are at the beginning of an uphill battle in parenting and teaching kids in the AI era. Things seem real that aren’t real (I see you AI recipes), human videos just seem weird, kids have access to “AI Boyfriends,” and there’s just something about all those photos popping up online that seem off, but we can’t put our finger on why.
You May Be Experiencing Uncanny Valley Right Now (And Here’s Why That Matters)
Do you know about “uncanny valley”?
It’s generally a phrase that applies to that really creepy, unsettling, or confusing thing that happens when you see human-like robots speaking or AI-generated people (virtual people in videos) or now (unfortunately) deepfakes, or faked videos of people who didn’t really do or say the things being portrayed.
When you see these, something just seems… off, but you can’t put your finger on it. It just gives you a weird or uneasy feeling.
Have you ever been playing a video game and you see a CGI character that looks almost human but is just creepy?
Like, maybe their eyes don’t blink naturally, or their movements are a bit too stiff, or their voice seems a little too robotic.
That feeling of weirdness you get when experiencing that character is called “uncanny valley.”
It describes that uneasy sensation when something artificial tries to mimic real life, but the tech just isn’t there yet so it seems unnatural.
Your brain knows something is off, even if it looks almost perfect.
This happens because human brains are really good at quickly picking up on the little details that make things look human or act natural.
When those details aren’t quite right, it can make us feel uneasy or even a bit freaked out without our brains being able to pinpoint why.
And this is the feeling you should be teaching your teens and kids to recognize.
It’s like a technological gut instinct that tells them something isn’t right.
And, I happen to think this uncanny valley response is what’s happening when we’re seeing photos online right now.
Let’s Use Fake Online Recipes
You may not know, but the online world is being flooded with fake recipes right now, so we’ll use that as a visual example.
You may have even shared some of these recipes unknowingly on social media because, at first glance, the photos are beautiful.
That recipe looks so yummy!
You definitely want to make that later!
But, then you look closer:
Why is the coloring off or so intense? (This seems to be a common lighting filter on many AI recipes.)
Why does that spoon have two spoons and one handle? (Or melting into the spoon rest? Hard to tell.)
Why is the corn unrealistically uniform in the AI bowl?
Why is the background blurred and the shadows weird?
Something is off about the cloth the bowl is sitting on – it’s fringed on the top on one side, but a different kind of fringe is coming from the bottom on the other.
Why does my gut instinct just feel off when I look at this?
That’s because your technological uncanny valley gut instinct is sounding alarms, and you should definitely listen to them.
No matter how good a photographer or someone is at staging photographs, there’s always realness in real photos. (For example, you can see in my real recipe image there’s a reflection in the spoon, probably of me taking the pic or of my kitchen.)
Also, hint? Real life and real people aren’t supposed to look perfect...
Recipes are just one example of what’s happening online, but they’re good visuals to help train your kids on how to recognize weirdness in AI.
FYI: Be careful right now if you’re sharing or making recipes from pages you don’t know! You may be buying a bunch of ingredients for recipes that don’t work because they were made by AI and not tested and often don’t work!
Here’s another one you can use to help train your kids. Just ask your kids What do you think about this picture?
(By the way, other than sizing it for this post, I didn’t use any changes, filters, or other colorations on this AI image. This is how it came out.)
Notice how it looked like a beautiful party picture at first, but then your brain slowly started to not be able to make sense of things so it maybe felt weird to you? That’s that uncanny valley response I’ve been talking about!
Bad AI Image Answers:
There are more things wrong in this picture that you can point out with your kids, but this is a start.
(Although, let’s be honest, a gigantic cone of fries is a-okay in my book, even if they’re AI.)
These are the kinds of exercises you can do with your kids to help them become critical thinkers about AI.
Ways To Teach Kids About AI
When looking at images online, you can help your kids recognize real or fake images with these tips and questions.
Look for:
- Unusual Textures or Patterns: AI-generated images sometimes exhibit weird textures or repetitive patterns that don’t quite match the rest of the image or seem out of place.
- Asymmetrical Features: In images of faces or animals, one side might not mirror the other properly. Features such as eyes, ears, or limbs might be mismatched or asymmetrically aligned, for example, eyes that are too far apart or noses with unusual shapes — although I have noticed that AI is getting better at this. TIP: Especially look at hand/fingers or feet/toes. AI doesn’t seem to be able to get this correct yet.
- Distorted or Blurry Elements: Some parts of an image, especially backgrounds, usually appear smudged or blurred.
- Poor Lighting and Shadows: The lighting and shadows in AI-generated images can be inconsistent. Shadows may appear at the wrong angle or have varying darkness at different points in the picture.
- Weirdness In Common Objects: Familiar objects, like utensils and household items, sometimes have weird extras (like the two spoons on one handle in the above picture).
- Strange Colors: Colors might be used in ways that are unusual or unrealistic, such as skin tones appearing unnaturally tinted or objects having unexpected colors. AI images are almost always really vibrant (see our main robot picture at the top) or have this weird dark filter (see the AI street corn recipe image above).
- Floating or Misplaced Objects: Objects in AI-generated images sometimes appear to be floating without support or placed in contexts that don’t make sense. (See the balloon and straw I pointed out in the AI party table picture above.)
- Missing Letters Or Misspellings: AI hasn’t quite gotten the hang that letters actually spell words, so it often generates signs or banners that don’t make sense.
Just scroll through a Facebook feed (or other social media feed) with your kids and discuss which pictures you think are AI and why or why not.
(Trust me, you’re seeing them daily now. You just may not realize it.)
One last note:
Why I’m Not Against AI
Before I get a bunch of comments about how I’m afraid to change with the times and technology, I just want to say:
I’m not against AI.
This may shock you after what I’ve written above, but I’m not against responsible use of AI.
For example, I used a fabulous AI program yesterday. I was able to put in a song that I liked (like Jolene from Dolly Parton) and this program brought up independent artists in the same style that I could use for online videos. (Don’t worry, I pay for them.)
This not only saved me time, but it also promoted independent artists without stealing from them or taking anything away from them, which AI is often doing right now.
THIS is the kind of AI that want to see in the future.
But, I think much of AI is being wrongfully used in its current stage.
“Trust is like the air we breathe. When it’s present, nobody really notices; when it’s absent, everybody notices.”
Trust is absent right now and I fear no one is noticing.
MORE HELPFUL TECHNOLOGY FOR KIDS INFORMATION:
Teaching Basic Internet Safety Rules for Kids (Online Cyber Lessons And Activities)
