Previously, identifying manipulated images was a relatively easy task since photoshopped pictures often contained obvious inconsistencies, mostly mismatched perspectives(a peasant photo with a supercar background), unnatural lighting, or awkward element combinations.
However, the emergence of Generative Adversarial Networks(GANs), a form of artificial intelligence (AI) for manipulating images has birthed a new era of synthetic media creation.
Today’s AI-generated images are becoming increasingly sophisticated, making the line between reality and fabrication a difficult distinction and what is more worrying, we are starting to see these being used to fuel disinformation campaigns especially during elections thus presenting a threat to democracy.
It is on this foundation that we’ve built a Spot the Fakes quiz, an educational game to develop and sharpen the critical analytical skills for the youth, women, civil society actors, content creators, journalists and politicians to preserve their integrity from sharing misinformation.
We aim to;
- Enhance digital literacy: By exposing users to a variety of synthetic and genuine content, the platform will help individuals become more critical at recognizing subtle signs of manipulation.
- Build critical thinking: Through interactive challenges, users will learn to question and analyze the content they encounter, developing a healthy skepticism towards information presented on social media platforms.
- Support journalistic integrity: For media professionals, the platform will serve as a valuable training tool, helping them maintain high standards of accuracy in an increasingly complex information landscape.
The Quiz
Spot The Fakes quiz gives users the opportunity to dive into the world of AI-generated synthetic media and how to distinguish between what is authentic or fake. On visiting the site, users either accept or decline the consent form and once the consent is accepted, each session presents a series of 10-15 carefully curated media contents.
The quiz is currently just limited to Images but soon, they could be videos, audios or even text-based content, each challenging the user to make a critical decision: is this real or fake? It’s a simple binary choice, but one that requires keen observation and analytical thinking as discussed earlier.
The quiz also employs a simple randomized selection process, drawing content from a diverse pool of content from a Ugandan local Photographer – Watanda Photography and previously fact checked Content from African Civic tech organizations.
While we maintain strict user anonymity, we do collect and analyze aggregated data. However, no personal or sensitive information is ever collected or sourced at any point of the game now and anytime in the future.
Spot the Fakes is more than just a game; it’s a training ground for digital discernment. In a world where the line between fact and fiction is increasingly blurred, we’re equipping newsrooms, journalists & Fact-Checkers with the skills they need to navigate the complex information landscape. Join us in this mission to foster a more informed, critically thinking online community.
Whilst Journalists, CSOs and Fact-Checkers can learn interactively, the quiz is also open-source which is very important as a product for educational purposes. Any non-profit or individual will be able to download the source code from our github repository in the coming weeks and host a similar quiz with their own content. Stay tuned! We’re currently working on the repository and documentation to help with this.
The creation of the quiz has been supported by the Africa Digital Rights Fund that is administered by The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA)
By Mark Okello and Samson Monyluak