Before starting this week’s post I’d just like to say it feels dangerous dictating a piece with stream of consciousness writing. It’s saving my wrist, yes, but I 100% cannot guarantee this post won’t go straight off the rails.
You’ve been warned.
The phrase take another look screams sales to me — car shopping, major appliances, that sort of thing – they’re always asking you to just take one more look, see if we can get you sold on this thing that I may or may not need or, alternatively, need desperately, but I’m trying not to spend huge amounts of money on.
It’s also all over persuasive writing. Take another look at this opinion, let’s really dig down on what it means to believe XYZ.
But the one that’s really pissing me off? The one that nearly drives me to distraction right now is the AI image analysis. When something gets splashed everywhere and someone says hey, take another look, this is AI, it’s fake. Let’s break down how it is and how we know. But as quick as we learn how to spot it that’s how quick AI improves its skills.
Let’s talk about Nekima Levy Armstrong, the Minneapolis civil rights activist and lawyer who’s been arrested for their role in a protest at Cities Church in St. Paul. I’ll link an article below (because sources) so you can get the details but my focus this week is the image released manipulated to show a distraught and inconsolable Armstrong being arrested. The original image shows a woman standing strong, determined, certain she’s on the right side of history.
Image manipulation to drive the administration’s narrative about that particular activity protected by the first amendment.
I think we all need to be taking a closer look — at images dropped like fact, at stories about current events with an eye toward who is served by the angles, at what’s happening all around us.
Don’t look away.
Article here
Linda hosts Stream of Consciousness Saturday. This week’s prompt is “take another look.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

AI is going to mess so much up if we aren’t t careful.
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Agreed, and I feel like it’s spinning off quickly.
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I guess we can’t believe anything 100 percent unless we see it with our own eyes, and then there are various levels of belief and suspicion beyond that. It’s crucially important to be aware of these things, so thank you for this post. Your inclusion of Nekima Levy Armstrong’s arrest and photo led me to read more about this case. I was initially surprised that the white house admitted to altering the photo, but then, I guess they knew it would become obvious. This case brings layers of questions for me. I completely support and understand the reason for the protest. I would not, however, do it loudly inside a church as I certainly would not want anyone who disagrees with my church’s position (on inclusion for example) to come inside my church with a microphone interrupting the service. Does this serve or hurt the cause? I would more likely protest outside the church or inside, silently holding up a sign. Another question is whether local police could have handled it. (Did they even want to?) My husband pointed out that it did not need to become a Department of Justice issue. But then, the feds want in on everything…. What a mess.
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It shocked me when they admitted to altering the photo. It sounds like — per usual — there are very different descriptions of the protest inside the church depending on who you ask. I will say that pushing back on a local church pastor who is also a top ICE official in the area sounds very much like something that falls under the what would Jesus do category.
The department of Justice inserting itself into opportunities for retribution is causing long term damage to our system as a whole.
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I agree. Jesus is shaking his head.
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It used to be that “a picture tells a thousand words”, but then even before AI came things like Photoshop with which I once added a missing family member to a friend’s Christmas picture. Doing that myself reduced my confidence in the authenticity of photos – then along came AI. So now not only do I doubt many written words, but also all photos. Sadness.
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It’s shifting sand under our feet. I get that change is inevitable but I feel like we lost hold of change that serves society versus rushing headlong toward tech because “progress.”
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AI really is off putting (to me) and I’m far from trusting it
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Same. When I say I won’t use it my husband says then I’ll be left behind — I don’t think I want to go where it’s going.
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I’m so fed up with all things AI.
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It’s beyond frustrating.
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Yes, now we can’t trust anything we see on social media to be authentic or true.
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It makes things more complicated. Too many people don’t take the extra step of confirming something with an outside source.
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Yes, even I thought a video I was watching was real but then on trying to fact check, it turned out to be false.
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