Generative AI

The recent advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI) have garnered significant public attention. We have prepared various programmes and resources to help the public to be aware of generative AI and its broad applications and to equip them to use it effectively and safely through the lens of the S.U.R.E. (information literacy) framework.

What is generative AI?

Here are 2 definitions which are more academic:

"Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence algorithms that enable using existing content like text, audio files, or images to create new plausible content. In other words, it allows computers to abstract the underlying pattern related to the input, and then use that to generate similar content."

Source: Analytics Insight

and

Generative algorithms create data using models of the world to synthesize images, sounds and videos that often look increasingly realistic. The algorithms begin with models of what a world must be like and then they create a simulated world that fits the mode.

Source: Venture Beat

We asked ChatGPT for a simpler explanation:

Generative AI can create new and original content like images, music, and text. It uses complex algorithms and patterns to understand and mimic what it learns from existing data.

It's like a painter who looks at many paintings and then creates a new one in a similar style. Generative AI can make realistic images, unique music, and human-like text.

It's exciting because it can make things that never existed before and can be useful for creativity, research, and problem-solving. However, it still needs human help and relies on patterns from existing data. It's not conscious or as creative as humans.

When asked to provide an explanation to a young child, ChatGPT's explanation was as follows:

Generative AI is like a smart computer friend that can make things up on its own. It looks at pictures, music, or words made by people and creates new ones that nobody has seen before.

It can imagine new animals like a "cat-dog" by combining different animals. e.g. from images of cats and dogs:

to cat-dog hybrids:

Generative AI can make new songs that sound like they were made by famous musicians and write stories like a famous author. It's clever but needs help from people to learn and make sure it's doing things correctly.

It's like having a creative and smart friend who loves inventing new things.

A.I. or Not?

Can you tell the difference between photos and A.I.-generated images? Try our single-player Kahoot quizzes now!

Quiz #1

Quiz #2

Games

• Real or Fake Text?
• Human or Not?

Share your views about generative A.I. below. If you are unable to view the form in this page, please use this LINK.

This resource toolkit highlights common generative AI tools and practical tips to help you guard against misinformation, disinformation and scams.

You can find lists of free and fee-based generative AI tools here and here, but they are non-exhaustive. Given the rapid rate of development, you can expect new AI tools and new versions of existing tools to be introduced.

Toolkit Categories

• Fact-checking tools
• Chatbots
• Image generators
• Search engines
• Video generators
• Generative AI in Singapore

NLB eResources

OverDrive eBooks

Explore our list of AI reads: Silicon Minds : Captivating Reads on AI - National Library Board Singapore - OverDrive

(A) Detecting AI-generated texts

The tools listed here generally require the user to copy and paste text into a dialogue box to work. Success rates may vary.

• Copyleaks
• Crossplag
• GPTZero
• Is It AI? - Text Detector
• OpenAI AI Text Classifier
• Writer.com AI Content Detector

(B) Detecting AI-generated images

• Illuminarty
• Is It AI? - Image Detector
• GPTZero
• The Hive - AI-Generated Media Recognition API

Activity

Let’s test one of the AI image detectors.

Step 1:

Download the image from here and save it to your desktop or mobile device.

Step 2:

Go to the “Is it AI?” Image Detector.

Step 3:

Click “Choose File” and select the image you have saved on your desktop or mobile device.

Step 4:

Click the “CHECK” button. After a few seconds, you will see the analysis. The image detector has correctly identified the image as “highly likely to be AI generated”.

(I) AI chatbots and Misinformation

Articles

• Google Tells Employees to Stay Away from Its Own Bard Chatbot (Gizmodo, Jun 15, 2023)
• China reports first arrest over fake news generated by ChatGPT (The Straits Times, May 11, 2023)
• Rapid growth of ‘news’ sites using AI tools like ChatGPT is driving the spread of misinformation (Euronews, May 9, 2023)
• Chatbot ‘journalists’ found running almost 50 AI-generated content farms (The Guardian, May 2, 2023)
• Chatbots trigger next misinformation nightmare (Axios, Feb 23, 2023)
• What Are The Dangers Of ChatGPT? (August Man, Feb 4, 2023)

Videos

• Generative AI spreading fake news (DW Shift, May 27, 2023)
• China makes first ChatGPT arrest as job losses by AI begin (South China Morning Post, May 12, 2023)
• Who’s Liable for AI Misinformation With Chatbots Like ChatGPT? (Wall Street Journal, Apr 25, 2023)
• He loves artificial intelligence. Hear why he is issuing a warning about ChatGPT (CNN, Jan 25, 2023)
• Artificial intelligence bot ChatGPT could be misused to spread ‘propaganda and disinformation’ to users, report says (Sky News, Jan 12, 2023)

Podcasts

• Who’s Liable for AI Misinformation With Chatbots Like ChatGPT?
• Ad Auris Global Feed: Chatbots trigger next misinformation nightmare
• Marketplace Tech: Don’t be surprised by AI chatbots creating fake citations
• AI Revolution Podcast: Professor flunks half his students after ChatGPT falsely claims it wrote their papers
• The Straits Times Podcast: How Singapore could use AI tools to deal with fake new, misinformation

(II) Using AI chatbots

Articles

• A comprehensive beginners guide to Google Bard (Dignited, May 16, 2023)
• 6 tips for using ChatGPT to brainstorm better (Wired, 27 April, 2023)
• Explained: What is generative AI, the technology behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT? (Reuters, March 17, 2023)
• What is ChatGPT-4 and how to use it now: Everything you need to know (The Straits Times, Mar 15, 2023)
• Google Bard vs OpenAI ChatGPT: Which chatbot is better and why? (Lifestyle Asia, Feb 9, 2023)
• What Are The Dangers Of ChatGPT? (August Man, Feb 4, 2023)

Videos

• How smart is ChatGPT, really? (CNA Insider, May 22, 2023)
• Beyond ChatGPT: What chatbots mean for the future (The Economist, Mar 24, 2023)
• How to Use Bard Ai - Google Chatbot VS. ChatGPT (Howfinity, Mar 22, 2023)
• How To Use Chat GPT by Open AI For Beginners (The AI Advantage, Dec 9, 2022)
• A.I. chatbot goes viral for accuracy and honesty (NBC News, Dec 6, 2022)

Podcasts

• Science, Quickly: AI Chatbots and the Human Who Love Them
• In The News: ChatGPT: could the new A.I. chatbot take you job?
• Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson: A Beginner’s Guide to ChatGPT: How it works, why tech Twitter is Euphoric, and what the next challenges look like
• Ad Auris Global Feed: How to use Bard
• Career Contessa: How to use ChatGPT for resume writing + your job search

(I) AI image generators and misinformation

Articles

• Fake AI-generated image of explosion at Pentagon goes viral (France24, May 23, 2023)
• How AI-generated images are complicating efforts to combat disinformation (International Journalists’ Network, May 22, 2023)
• ‘Beat Biden’: GOP’s AI-Generated Ad Paints San Francisco as Dystopia (The San Francisco Standard, Apr 25, 2023)
• Will AI-generated images create a new crisis for fact-checkers? Experts are not so sure (University of Oxford, Apr 11, 2023)
• ‘A real worry’: How AI is making it harder to spot fake images (ABC News, Apr 7, 2023)
• How a tiny company with few rules is making fake images go mainstream (The Washington Post, Mar 30, 2023)
• AI Creates Photo Evidence Of 2001 Earthquake That Never Happened (Forbes, Mar 27, 2023)
• Fake AI photos flood internet with misinformation Mar 23, 2023)

Videos

• Fake AI-generated image of Pentagon explosion goes viral (Al Jazeera English, May 23, 2023)
• Artificial intelligence changing politics with fake images and videos (NBC News, Apr 29, 2023)
• Trump deepfakes on social media prompt warnings of AI risks (NBC News, Apr 29, 2023)
• What will the future of AI-powered disinformation look like? (Al Jazeera English, May 23, 2023)
• Deepfakes: How to spot AI-generated images (ABC News, Mar 25, 2023)

Podcasts

• NPR: AI-generated deepfakes are moving fast. Policymakers can’t keep up (Apr 27, 2023)
• Dr Sam Woolley Reveals: AI’s Dark Side of Deception (The AI Edge, April 20, 2023)
• AI Unfiltered: Image generators and the deepfake dilemma (May 2, 2023)
• TechPlus: Companies using AI image generators to create fake employees (Oct 2022)

(II) Using AI image generators

Articles

• Anyone can now use powerful AI tools to make images. What could possibly go wrong? (CNN, Oct 1, 2022)
• Can We No Longer Believe Anything We See? (NYT, April 8, 2023)
• Picture Limitless Creativity At Your Fingertips (Wired, Nov 17, 2022)
• 3 Questions: How AI Image Generators Work (MIT, Oct 27, 2022)
• How AI turns Text into Images (PBS, Jan 12, 2023)

Videos

• The text-to-image revolution, explained (Vox, Jun 1, 2022)
• An AI artist explains his workflow (Vox, May 2, 2023)
• MIT CSAIL Researcher Explains: AI Image Generators (MIT CSAIL, Oct 27, 2022)
• AI Art Generators Explained (WSJ, Oct 22, 2022)
• How DALL-E 2 and other AI Art Generators Create Images from Text (WSJ, Oct 19, 2022)

Podcasts

• How AI is transforming Images (DMEXco podcast, Feb 9, 2023)
• The Uncomfortable Reality of AI Generated Images - TDS Photo Podcast (The Digital Story, Jan 16, 2023)
• The Art Angle Podcast: How Artificial Intelligence Could Completely Transform Art (artnet news, May 27, 2022)
• Deep Learning Deep Dive (DeepLearningDeepDive, Feb 25, 2021)

(I) AI search engines and misinformation

Articles

• Misinformation in search engines: how it spreads and how to spot it (Buster.AI, n.d.)
• Why you shouldn’t trust AI search engines (MIT Technology Review, February 14, 2023)
• TikTok’s search engine repeatedly delivers misinformation to its majority-young user base, report says (CNN, Sep 18, 2022)
• How AI Bias In Search Engines Contributes To Disinformation (Diplomatic Courier, Jan 27, 2022))
• How search engines spread misinformation (Commonlit, 2021)

(II) Using AI search engines

Articles

• AI in Search Engines: Everything You Need to Know (Marketing AI Institute, Mar 7, 2023)
• How Artificial Intelligence Is Powering Search Engines (Data Science Central, Oct 6, 2021)
• How Search Engines Use Machine Learning: 9 Things We Know For Sure (Search Engine Journal, Aug 13, 2021)

Videos

• New Google AI-Powered Search Engine Revealed (CNET Highlights, May 11, 2023)
• Microsoft, Google using AI to revamp search engines (CBS News, Feb 9, 2023)
• Revolutionize Your Learning with the NEW AI Search Engine: Easier Searching and Discovery (MattVidPro AI, Dec 27, 2022)
• YOUChat - ChatGPT like ChatBot on Search Engine (1littlecoder, Dec 24, 2022)

Podcasts

• Exposure Ninja Digital Marketing Podcast: Will Google’s AI search kill SEO? (May 22, 2023)
• Marketing Clock: It’s not your iMAGInation, Google announces new AI search engine (Apr 20, 2023)
• Maker 2 Market: AI and the future of search engines (Apr 20, 2023)
• No Priors: How do we go from search engines to answer engines? (Mar 23, 2023)
• Marketplace Tech: Search engines powered by generative AI might be the next big thing (Mar 10, 2023)

(I) AI video generators and misinformation

Articles

• What are deepfakes? How fake AI-powered media can warp our perception of reality (Business Insider, Apr 5, 2023)
• How AI fake news is creating a ‘misinformation superspreader’ (The Washington Post, Dec 17, 2023)
• New AI tools make it easy to create fake video, audio and text (NPR, Mar 23, 2023)
• Fake news is real — A.I. is going to make it much worse (CNBC, Jul 12, 2019)

Videos

• Artificial Intelligence software used to spread misinformation in Venezuela (InVideo for Content Creators, March 30, 2023)
• AI-generated deepfakes: Can you spot them? (CBC News: The National, Apr 22, 2023)
• DeepFake and AI will together fool EVERYONE (Exonet, Sep 10, 2022)

Podcasts

• ChatGPT: Google’s plan to catch AI-generated images and deepfakes (May 16, 2023)

(II) Using AI video generators

Articles

• 6 Best AI-video generators: In-depth comparison (Synthesia, May 17, 2023)
• Brace yourselves, the AI-generated video revolution is coming (Dazed, May 4, 2023)
• AI Video Generators Are Nearing a Crucial Tipping Point (WIRED, Apr 6, 2023)
• Best AI Video Generators (2023) (MarkTechPost, Mar 15, 2023)
• AI Text-To-Video Generators: What Are They, and How Will They Boost Marketing Sales? (Attention Insight, Oct 19, 2022)

Videos

• Use AI to create EPIC Promo Videos in Minutes with ChatGPT and InVideo (InVideo for Content Creators, March 30, 2023)
• Using AI Text-to-VIDEO Generators (animation & realistic) (Sharp Startup, February 30, 2023)
• AI Video Generator : Create Text To Video (How to In 5 Minutes, Feb 24, 2023)
• The Best Tools To Create YouTube Video With AI Using ‘Text To Video’ (Dreamcloud, Jan 5, 2023)
• How to Create an AI Generated Video with ChatGPT, Synthesia, and Descript (Wistia, Dec 8, 2022)

Podcasts

• Autocast: The AI-generated podcast: Exploring the world of AI video generators: Transforming content creation (May 16, 2023)
• Digital Dreamway - AI prompts and generative AI: Top 8 best AI video generators (Apr 19, 2023)
• The Bad AI Show: Creating AI video masterpieces with Kaiber (Apr 11, 2023)
• What’s new with WIRED: AI video generators are nearing a crucial tipping point (Apr 7, 2023)
• Leveraging AI: Discover the magic of AI generated videos (Apr 6, 2023)

(I) Research on generative AI

• 9 in 10 Singapore respondents say generative AI is important to daily work but knowledge gaps hinder full potential: HubSpot (Economic Times, Jun 20, 2023)
• Generative AI: Implications for trust and governance (IMDA, Jun 7, 2023)
• Perspectives on Generative AI (Black Dot Research, May 23, 2023)

(II) Misinformation

• Singapore identifies six generative AI risks, sets up foundation to guide adoption (ZDNET, Jun 8, 2023)
• Singapore’s Cyber Defenses Against ChatGPT-enabled Hackers (AI Business, May 29, 2023)
• The Straits Times Podcast: How Singapore could use AI tools to deal with fake new, misinformation (The Straits Times, May 8, 2023)

(III) Use cases in Singapore

• What generative AI means for Singapore businesses (The Straits Times, May 23, 2023)
• Public officers can use ChatGPT and similar AI, but must take responsibility for their work: MCI (The Straits Times, May 23, 2023)
• IN FOCUS: When AI goes mainstream - these professionals use ChatGPT to do their job better (ChannelNews Asia, May 13, 2023)
• S’pore man asks ChatGPT for Toto numbers, wins S$40 (Mothership, May 7, 2023)
• Singapore ChatGPT-powered tutoring app seeks funding at US$100 million-plus value (The Straits Times, May 23, 2023)
• How much can ChatGPT tell us about NS? (AsiaOne, Mar 23, 2023)
• ‘This can’t be real’: Singaporean woman uses AI to plan Vietnam travel itinerary, netizens in disbelief (AsiaOne, Mar 22, 2023)
• ChatGPT could be partners in education if we overcome these challenges (NIE, Mar 2, 2023)
• Commentary: The good, bad and unknowns of letting Singapore’s civil servants use ChatGPT (Today, Mar 1. 2023)
• Someone asked ChatGPT to describe S’pore with a sense of humour & it somewhat nailed it ( (The Straits Times, May 23, 2023)
• Commentary: A test for educators — how to embrace ChatGPT’s capabilities and exploit its limitations (Today, Feb 20, 2023)
• S’pore civil servants can use ChatGPT to write reports & speeches in 2 months’ time (The Straits Times, May 23, 2023)
• Singapore teachers brace for more cheating by students using viral bot ChatGPT (AsiaOne, Jan 3 , 2023)
• EdGPT (EdNovation, n.d.)