People keep sharing an image of a bird with a drop of water bursting on its head like a crown.
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@CiaraNi I believe all this is transitory. It’s only us old-timers who keep having difficulty in telling AI from real life.
The next generations will do as humans always have done, and quickly develop the necessary skills to tell apart fact from fiction.
@gimulnautti It's hard to know if those brought up on it - the 'enshitiffication natives' and 'AI natives' - will be able to tell fact from fiction or will not feel the need to see if they can tell fact from fiction. I fear it can go either way.
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People keep sharing an image of a bird with a drop of water bursting on its head like a crown. It's AI, but people share it in good faith, believing it’s an amazing photo by a human of a real bird in a real moment of time. Meanwhile, humans who have taken amazing photos of real birds captured in real moments of time, like a hummingbird in ballet with a butterfly, get questioned in good faith by people who are tired of being cheated by AI-deceit. The way AI has broken social trust is distressing.
Doesn't this call for some sort of traceable watermarking, or otherwise trustworthy assurance of human originality? While such stupid conditions prevail, for now?
The citationless crap that fills social media is readily regurgitated. I'm sure I'm guilty of it too. I just meant well...
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@stekopf @VerenaRupp Everything points to it being AI (there are plausible reasons in the photo's thread and in this one.) I don't know how I can prove technically that it is not an AI image. A verified source for the actual photographer and original photo would prove it but nobody seems to have found one.
How do we prove something is or isn't AI in the absence of an original source?
Edit to add: I was sure. Until people started questioning me. Which made me unsure. This is the whole AI mess.
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People keep sharing an image of a bird with a drop of water bursting on its head like a crown. It's AI, but people share it in good faith, believing it’s an amazing photo by a human of a real bird in a real moment of time. Meanwhile, humans who have taken amazing photos of real birds captured in real moments of time, like a hummingbird in ballet with a butterfly, get questioned in good faith by people who are tired of being cheated by AI-deceit. The way AI has broken social trust is distressing.
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A few people have questioned whether I am right to say that the image of a drop of water bursting on a bird's head like a crown actually is AI-generated. They think I may be wrong. That it is not faked. That it is real.
If I'm wrong, if it really is an unmanipulated photo by a verified human photographer, please do let me know so that I can correct myself and my toot.
(All this uncertainty is part of the whole problem. We all spend so much human time & energy trying to act in good faith.)
RE: https://eldritch.cafe/@lynatic/116439531277946968
@CiaraNi It is apparently watermarked by the AI that generated it (though I haven't checked this myself). I'd consider that pretty strong proof, since I can't imagine why anyone would add an AI watermark to a real, non-AI picture (but then again, people do lots of things I can't imagine people doing)
https://mstdn.social/@lynatic@eldritch.cafe/116439531501647616
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People keep sharing an image of a bird with a drop of water bursting on its head like a crown. It's AI, but people share it in good faith, believing it’s an amazing photo by a human of a real bird in a real moment of time. Meanwhile, humans who have taken amazing photos of real birds captured in real moments of time, like a hummingbird in ballet with a butterfly, get questioned in good faith by people who are tired of being cheated by AI-deceit. The way AI has broken social trust is distressing.
@CiaraNi@mastodon.green Even sader - The AI STOLE the Bird and the Droplet Picture from a real human to make this new fake one.
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Doesn't this call for some sort of traceable watermarking, or otherwise trustworthy assurance of human originality? While such stupid conditions prevail, for now?
The citationless crap that fills social media is readily regurgitated. I'm sure I'm guilty of it too. I just meant well...
@MattMoose Agreed. A verified symbol of authenticity would be nice at this point. Like for organic fruit or vegan produce or allergy-free products or whatever. The whole uncertainty is awful. We get tricked, which makes us suspicious. We get it wrong in either direction, no doubt - thinking AI is real, thinking real images are fake.
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People keep sharing an image of a bird with a drop of water bursting on its head like a crown. It's AI, but people share it in good faith, believing it’s an amazing photo by a human of a real bird in a real moment of time. Meanwhile, humans who have taken amazing photos of real birds captured in real moments of time, like a hummingbird in ballet with a butterfly, get questioned in good faith by people who are tired of being cheated by AI-deceit. The way AI has broken social trust is distressing.
Fake news and AI Fakery is all part of a deliberate strategy.........if we loose the ability to work out what's real then those with power can get away with murder.
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RE: https://eldritch.cafe/@lynatic/116439531277946968
@CiaraNi It is apparently watermarked by the AI that generated it (though I haven't checked this myself). I'd consider that pretty strong proof, since I can't imagine why anyone would add an AI watermark to a real, non-AI picture (but then again, people do lots of things I can't imagine people doing)
https://mstdn.social/@lynatic@eldritch.cafe/116439531501647616
@stveje Oh, so there is an actual AI-watermark. What a vicious circle all of this runs in. And such a terrible waste of all our human time and energy. I'd prefer to look at those real, non-AI pictures too!
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People keep sharing an image of a bird with a drop of water bursting on its head like a crown. It's AI, but people share it in good faith, believing it’s an amazing photo by a human of a real bird in a real moment of time. Meanwhile, humans who have taken amazing photos of real birds captured in real moments of time, like a hummingbird in ballet with a butterfly, get questioned in good faith by people who are tired of being cheated by AI-deceit. The way AI has broken social trust is distressing.
Breaking social trust is the point of AI.
That's why they're investing billions. -
@CiaraNi@mastodon.green Even sader - The AI STOLE the Bird and the Droplet Picture from a real human to make this new fake one.
@monkee It is a shame when photo images that are lovely in themselves get scraped for reuse and misuse by others. We could just enjoy the lovely originals instead!
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Breaking social trust is the point of AI.
That's why they're investing billions.@billyjoebowers Yes, I know
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@stveje Oh, so there is an actual AI-watermark. What a vicious circle all of this runs in. And such a terrible waste of all our human time and energy. I'd prefer to look at those real, non-AI pictures too!
@CiaraNi It's so depressing. Worst part is there doesn't seem to be any solution.
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@CiaraNi It's so depressing. Worst part is there doesn't seem to be any solution.
"Worst part is there doesn't seem to be any solution."
Agreed. It makes it extra exhausting. There's no end in sight.
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@CiaraNi It takes the joy out of watching interesting pictures and cute dog videos for me. Just one more reason why AI sucks.
@ratiogeraet @CiaraNi It is not just that.
Making people distrust their reality is part of the fascist playbook currently in use by many of the worlds despotic regimes.
There is an article (in German) on Republik at the moment that deals with this very issue.
The alt-right benefit from this method much more than left wing groups.
The article is subscribers only but the author has co-written a book on the same subject
Link to the article:
https://www.republik.ch/2026/04/08/wenn-faelschungen-politik-machen
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@CiaraNi My father when he saw the image, an intellectual: waterdrops don't create that shape on a concave surface, only when its flat.
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"Worst part is there doesn't seem to be any solution."
Agreed. It makes it extra exhausting. There's no end in sight.
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@CiaraNi My father when he saw the image, an intellectual: waterdrops don't create that shape on a concave surface, only when its flat.
@FrutigerAero00 There seems to be consensus that a water droplet only makes that shape when hitting a flat body of water.
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@CiaraNi My father when he saw the image, an intellectual: waterdrops don't create that shape on a concave surface, only when its flat.
@CiaraNi Still, i know this ai issue could bring a pessimistic approach, but I think, on the other side, this issue will connect humans even more, here's why:
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@ratiogeraet @CiaraNi It is not just that.
Making people distrust their reality is part of the fascist playbook currently in use by many of the worlds despotic regimes.
There is an article (in German) on Republik at the moment that deals with this very issue.
The alt-right benefit from this method much more than left wing groups.
The article is subscribers only but the author has co-written a book on the same subject
Link to the article:
https://www.republik.ch/2026/04/08/wenn-faelschungen-politik-machen
@the_wub @ratiogeraet Yes, it's a known strategy