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Trace the Information: Is this a photo of the solar eclipse from Toronto?

SKILL: Trace the Information

DIFFICULTY: Simple

SUBJECT(S): Politics/Current Events, Science, AI

Students will search the history of this image of a solar eclipse behind the CN tower to learn that it is AI generated artwork.

Related Lesson

CTRL-F Lesson 4: Trace the Information

Link to Example

Solar Eclipse 2024 from Canada (Twitter/X)
Photorealistic image of a solar eclipse behind Toronto's CN tower with the words "AI Generated Image."

Background

On April 8, 2024 a total solar eclipse moved across parts of Mexico, the United States and Canada. A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the sun. 

There are now numerous artificial intelligence (AI) programs online, such as Midjourney, that people can use to create images that look shockingly photorealistic. The AI program is trained on a data-set of thousands of images and uses it to produce new images. The person using the AI art generator can use text to describe what image they want the AI to produce.



About the Example

This tweet captioned “#SolarEclipse2024 from Canada” includes an image of what appears to be a photograph of a complete solar eclipse behind the CN Tower in Toronto. 

Let’s do a reverse image search to see what we can learn about this image. Scrolling past various other instances the image was shared on social media, we find an article from AFP, a reliable news source, fact-checking this claim. Here we learn not only that the image was generated using artificial intelligence (AI), but that it was originally posted as an April Fool’s Day prank, several days before the eclipse occurred. 



Activities 

  1. Show students the tweet and ask them to summarize the claim. If you can not access Twitter/X at your school, students can view the tweet and image at the following links:

Tweet: https://ctrl-f.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/CN-tower-eclipse-tweet.png

Image: https://ctrl-f.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/CN-tower-eclipse-e1716563415840.jpeg

  1. Have students trace the history of the image with a reverse image search using the following steps: 

Step 1: Right click on the image and select “Search Google for this image.”

Step 2: Select “Find image source”

  1. Have students scroll past the other instances this image has appeared on social media and click into AFP’s article fact-checking the claim. Guiding questions:
    • Is this claim true, false or something else? Explain your reasoning.
    • How and why was this image created?
    • The image was originally posted with text acknowledging that it was AI generated. Why do you think others shared the image without that context?


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