Do you think it’s possible to go a day without hearing about AI? Probably not. There are a lot of different conversations about AI, how it’s used, the benefits, the challenges, and how it will continue to affect all of us. The good news? This article isn’t really about any of that important stuff. With this article we’re going to celebrate mistakes. Not our mistakes of course but the mistakes that AI has made and hopefully learned from. So, join me in this simple technological schadenfreude.
Multiple news sources including Forbes.com and The Guardian.com reported the story of a New Zealand grocery store which came up with an interesting way for shoppers to get recipes. The idea was that customers would enter items that the store sells into an AI Bot or application, and it would generate recipe ideas. It sounds great in theory until you get the “Oreo Vegetable Stir Fry.” I guess I can’t knock it until I try it, but it also turned a bit darker. As customers started experimenting mischievously with ingredients, the bot suggested “Poison Bread Sandwiches” and “Mosquito-repellent Roast Potatoes. One of the most dangerous ones of all was a recipe for chlorine gas called “Aromatic Water Mix” with the description: a non-alcoholic beverage that will quench your thirst. At least we should be grateful that it also came with a caveat saying that inhaling chorine gas can damage your lungs. The store’s website currently says that the meal bot is “taking a break” and a spokesperson for the company said that they are fine tuning the application.
What did we learn here? Sometimes AI bots need training wheels such not allowing certain items to be used in the application. And we also learned that some humans work very hard to break things.
A picture is worth a thousand words. So, let’s look at some interesting pictures AI has created. While AI generated imagery has come a long way, it still has its quirks.
When it comes to human images, hands are the area where AI struggles the most. AI mimics patterns without true understanding. For example, with leaves on a tree it doesn’t matter if there are variations. But fingers must appear in the correct order and position and or they will look wrong.
In this image AI struggles again with hand placement. While having an extra arm might be helpful, it’s not realistic and tends to be creepy.
When you ask AI to create an image with six people sitting around a table, it may just give you the same six people.
When working with repeating characters in AI image creation, be on the lookout for characters being merged.
And sometimes AI just misses the mark entirely. Hey, it’s still learning.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this celebration of mistakes. It’s good to know that while AI has come a long way there are still things it can learn, just like us. What are some AI “oops” you’ve encountered?