TW3 #004 Does AI scare you sometimes, too?

Uncover Fake News & Create A Book Cover With Midjourney

Author

Karolyne Hahn
May 27, 2023

TW3 #004

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Sometimes, it’s hard to recognize what’s true, and what’s not.

In March 2023, a 31-year-old construction worker named Pablo Xavier tripped on shrooms. 🍄

After his brother died a few months back, he started experimenting with Midjourney. First, he created images of his past brother.

It was his way of dealing with his grief. And he fell in love with it.

“I’m trying to figure out ways to make something funny because that’s what I usually try to do.

I try to do funny stuff or trippy art - psychedelic stuff.

It just dawned on me: I should do the Pope.

‘The Pope in Balenciaga puffy coat, Moncler, walking the streets of Rome, Paris,’ stuff like that.”

When he saw the images of Pope Francis, he thought they were perfect. So he posted them to a Facebook Group called AI Art Universe, then on Reddit.

The images went viral.

And he thought it was “definitely scary”. “People were running with it and thought it was real without questioning it.”

The controversy helped him realize the potential impact of generative AI.

Does AI Scare You Sometimes, Too? 🤖

Whenever there is an evolution in technology, we need to learn to navigate new challenges.

And one of them is the rise of Fake News.

Fake News has become omnipresent. And the rise of generative AI makes the problem even worse.

Generative AI = AI that is capable of generating new content, like text, images, and videos.

It is a type of machine learning. It involves training a neural network on a large dataset of existing content similar in style and tone to the original data.

It’s useful when generating new product designs or creating realistic virtual environments.

But it has a dark side, too.

The problem is the potential misuse is powerful.

So far, generative AI

  • Created fake news stories and people spread misinformation

  • Caused financial markets to crash [Link]

  • Manipulated public opinion with Deep Fake videos

With generative AI it becomes impossible to separate what’s real and what’s not.

For example, have you seen these images that went viral online over the past weeks?
What did you think back then?

Fake AI-generated image of an explosion at the Pentagon
(Twitter)

Laws and regulations must play a key role, at least in some of the highest-risk areas.

Let’s dive in.

🤘

In Today’s Newsletter:

💡 Spotlight: Fake AI-Generated Images

  • How Society Must Navigate The Spread of Fake News

  • How Can You Navigate It?

  • How To Uncover Fake AI-Generated Images

🤓 Breakdown: How to Create an AI-Generated Image for Your Ebook

🚨 Links I Love: AI & Web3 Tools and News

Reading time: 5 min

💡Spotlight:
How Society Must Navigate The Spread of Fake News

1. Improve Verification Processes ✅

  • Social media platforms must

    • Improve their verification processes and

    • Ensure only credible individuals and organizations get a verified badge, e.g. Blue Check on Twitter.

  • Stricter criteria and ongoing monitoring will help maintain verified accounts' trustworthiness.

2. Algorithmic Detection & Flagging 🚩 

  • Platforms could use advanced algorithms.

    • AI can support detecting and flagging potentially misleading or fake content.

  • They must

    • Invest in systems that proactively identify and

    • Remove fake content before it gains traction.

3. User Education & Media Literacy 👩🏻‍🏫

  • Promoting media literacy and educating users about the dangers of misinformation is essential.

  • Only skilled and empowered users can evaluate information critically so that the headless spread of Fake News can be reduced.

4. Collaborative Efforts 👥 

  • Collaboration between social media platforms

  • Fact-checking organizations, and

  • Credible news sources are central to fighting the spread of misinformation.

Together, they can work towards the trend of fast-spreading Fake News.

How Can You Navigate? Develop Critical Thinking Skills 🧠

Be sceptical, and fact-check anything that could impact your life or democratic processes.

and …

5 Tips to Uncover an AI-Generated Image 🕵🏻‍♀️

1. Hands

There are often still glitches at hands: Too many fingers or other oddities. So, you see, the details seem odd.

2. Objects

The cross around the Pope’s neck has only one strap. Sometimes an earring might be missing, or glasses seem off. Look for things that defy physics, e.g. a belt without a buckle or a loose strap that traces the contours of an item below it.

3. Text

Look for writing on objects, like street signs or billboards. Notice the text on the McD bag?

Prince Harry isn’t picking up McDonald’s – AI-generated.

4. Background

AI-generated images may have blurry or distorted details in the background.

Fake AI-generated image of former president Trump includes warped faces of police officers.

5. Glossy or Artistic

Some images appear stylized or have people with plastic-looking faces. For example, the image of Pope Francis is smoothed out by AI, making it look too shiny.

🤓 Breakdown:
Create a Cover for Your eBook with Midjourney in 5 Steps

Last week we wrote an Ebook with the help of ChatGPT. [Link] 📚

Today, we create its cover in 5 simple steps using Midjourney and Canva.

Step 1: Use a simple prompt in Midjourney [Link]

Midjourney Prompt: 

“Creative business book cover in the style of Andy Warhol”

Step 2: Go to Canva and look for an ebook template [Link]

Step 3: Copy-paste your image from Midjourney to your eBook cover template in Canva. Then adjust the style to your preference.

Step 4: Click on Edit Photo and use the Magic Eraser to remove the “Text” (Note: You need the Canva Paid Plan)

Step 5: Edit Your Title and Style … and Voilà

Do you need help with Step 1 - Midjourney?

I’ve created a value-packed 35+ pages Beginners Guide to Midjourney to get you up to speed in no time.

It includes

  • Getting Started with Midjourney and Discord

  • Prompting Formulas & Guidelines

  • Command Cheat Sheets

  • Examples

  • …

Reply to this email with “Midjourney Guide, please”, and I’ll send you the Download Link.

👌🏼 Links I love:

THE LATEST NEWS & TOOLS 🔥

I read 5.000 Tweets per week and 30 Newsletters daily, so you don’t have to. The Best of the Best is listed below.

⛓ Bitcoin: Becomes the 2nd Largest Blockchain For NFTs [Link]

👨🏻‍💻 Reddit Cracked the NFT Code: Onboarding Millions to Crypto [Link]

🪪 Identity First, Apps Second: Decentralization turns blockchain addresses into user profiles prioritizing identities over applications. [Link]

❗️AI Regulation: OpenAI aims to crowdsource regulation to decide what rules AI systems should follow. [Link]

🧠 Elon Musks Neuralink: FDA Approval to start clinical trials [Link]

🦾 Spinal Cord Rebuild: Swiss Scientist helped a paralyzed man to regain control over his lower body 👉 With the help of AI [Link]

👩🏻‍🔬 AI Canon: A Curated List of Resources for Learning about AI [Link]

👩🏻‍✈️ Microsoft Copilot: Introducing your AI assistant into your operating system [Link]

👨🏻‍💼 Onboard Your AI Intern: Think of AI as a human [Link]

🤯 Thought-to-Video: Generate videos based on brain activity [Link]

🤖 There’s an AI for that: All AI-Tools on one bookmark-worthy site [Link]

💬 Introducing Airchat: Naval’s new social media app. Push-to-talk whenever you want, with perfect transcripts and AI art [Link]

Should I split the News & Tools part into a separate Newsletter and call it Gr3tchens Curation?

This was an uneasy edition to write because I don’t want to hype fear about AI Fakes.

After 15 years of social media history - and many more filled with conspiracy theories - it’s not “evidence” that makes fake news believable.

We fall for fakes when we want to believe the reality they present.

“Do not believe everything that is written on the web just because it has the name of someone famous in italics next to it.”

William Shakespeare

That’s all I have for you today.

Thanks for reading The W3bpreneur!

If you learned something useful, share it with a friend 🤘

Until next week legends,

Karolyne

Special Thanks To This Reader 👏

💜

PS. See you on Twitter or Linkedin 🙋🏻‍♀️
PPS. Would you like to know how Pepsi missed a one-of-a-kind opportunity and what you can learn from it? I’ll share it with you next week, incl. an NFT Loyalty Program Breakdown.

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell assets or make financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.

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