English · Première, Terminale (B1 to C2), Bac pro

Session 2: AI images: clues and limits

Read one step, do it, then move on.
Step 1

Recap check

Recap check
  1. What is a viral post?
  2. Content or frame: what is the caption?
  3. Which program made the Pope picture?
Answer key
  1. A post shared very fast and very widely.
  2. Part of the frame.
  3. Midjourney.
Step 2

Objectives

Step 3
Today's language goal

To say what a picture must, might or cannot be, and warn someone politely, we need the words of visual clues (distorted, inconsistent, reflection, glitch, gown) and the modals of deduction (must be, might be, can’t be).

Documents

The viral post

May 2024, Met Gala night in New York. Two pictures show the singer Katy Perry in a gown covered in flowers. One post on X gets over 300,000 likes. She was not there: she wrote on Instagram that she had to work. Her own mother believed the pictures. October 2024: other pictures show Disney World's Cinderella Castle under water after Hurricane Milton. They are AI images too; Disney said the resort had weathered the storm.

Fact-checks : PolitiFact (Katy Perry) · AFP Fact Check (Disney World)

"Couldn't make it to the MET, had to work"
Katy Perry on Instagram, quoted by NPR
"lol mom the AI got you too, BEWARE!"
Katy Perry to her mother, quoted by PolitiFact
"There are tell-tale and obvious structural defects in all images including inconsistent reflections in the water"
Hany Farid, quoted by AFP
Step 4

Grammar lesson: modals of deduction: must, might, can’t

To say what a picture must, might or cannot be, and warn someone politely, we need modals of deduction: must, might, can’t
On the board, to copy

Rule

must be = sure yes. might be = maybe. can’t be = sure no.

Form

  • present: modal + be / base verb: It must be an AI image.
  • past: modal + have + past participle: She can’t have been there: she was working.
  • the opposite of must is can’t, not mustn’t.

Examples from the lesson

  • The carpet is the wrong colour: the picture must be fake.
  • Katy Perry can’t have been at the Met Gala: she wrote that she had to work.
  • These reflections are inconsistent; the image might be AI-generated.

Common mistakes

  • Not It must to be fake., but It must be fake.
  • Not It mustn't be real., but It can't be real.

Quick check (2 minutes, hands up or mini whiteboards)Must, might or can’t?

  1. The castle is under water but Disney says it weathered the storm: the picture ______ be real.
  2. The hands look strange; it ______ be AI, let's check.
  3. Five sources show the same scene: it ______ be real.
  4. She ______ have been there: she was at work.
Show the answers

1. can't. 2. might. 3. must. 4. can't.

Exercises

EntryRecognition. Say how sure the speaker is: 100% yes, 50%, or 100% no.

  1. It must be a fake.
  2. It might be a real photo.
  3. She can't have been there.
  4. The picture could be AI.
  5. This must have been posted as a joke.
  6. The castle can't have flooded.
Show the answers

1. 100% yes. 2. 50%. 3. 100% no. 4. 50%. 5. 100% yes. 6. 100% no.

CoreTransformation. Rewrite with must, might or can't (present or past).

  1. I'm sure the picture is fake.
  2. Perhaps the post is a joke.
  3. I'm sure she wasn't at the gala.
  4. It's possible the photographer edited it.
  5. I'm sure her mother believed it.
  6. I'm sure the castle didn't flood.
  7. Maybe the account is satirical.
Show the answers

1. The picture must be fake. 2. The post might be a joke. 3. She can't have been at the gala. 4. The photographer might have edited it. 5. Her mother must have believed it. 6. The castle can't have flooded. 7. The account might be satirical.

StretchProduction. Look at the clue grid. Write five deductions, two with must, two with might, one with can't, each with a reason.

Show the answers

For example: The faces of the photographers are distorted, so the picture must be AI. The reflections are wrong; it must be generated. The colour might be edited. The gown might exist, but nobody took a photo of it. Katy Perry can't have been there, because she said she was working.

Words in action

To say it precisely, we need the right words

EntryMatch: distorted, inconsistent, reflection, glitch.

  1. not the same everywhere, not logical
  2. the picture you see in water or a mirror
  3. changed in shape, twisted
  4. a small error in a program or an image
Show the answers

1. inconsistent. 2. reflection. 3. distorted. 4. glitch.

Task 1

List the clues found by fact-checkers: wrong carpet, distorted faces of photographers, strange hands, inconsistent reflections, misplaced castle spires.
Step 5

Task 2

Read Sam Gregory in NPR: instead of hunting for glitches, ask why there are no other pictures of the same scene.
Step 6

Task 3

Build a two-column grid: what I see / what I check.
Step 7

Figures of speech in the documents

Personification: the AI got you

“lol mom the AI got you too, BEWARE!” Katy Perry to her mother, quoted by PolitiFact

“the AI got you”: AI is like a person who tricks. This is personification.

EntryWho or what “got” Katy Perry's mother?

Show the answers

The AI (the fake picture).

Gap-fill worksheet

Word bank : clues context detector reflections check
  1. Strange hands or blurred faces are .
  2. In the Disney pictures, the in the water were inconsistent.
  3. An online can be wrong.
  4. The best habit is to whether other sources show the same thing.
  5. We also judge a picture by its : date, place, event.
Answer key
  1. clues
  2. reflections
  3. detector
  4. check
  5. context
Step 8

Expression task

Now say it

Write a polite comment to someone who shared the Katy Perry picture: inform, do not mock.

EntryThree sentences: hello, the picture is fake, one clue.

Tools to use:

  • distorted, inconsistent, reflection
  • must, might, can't (have)
  • according to PolitiFact

Sentence starters:

  • Hi, I think this picture might be ...
  • Katy Perry can't have been ...
  • You can check ...
Show a model answer

Hi! I loved the gown too, but I think this picture might be AI-generated. The carpet is the wrong colour and the faces behind her are distorted. Katy Perry can't have been at the gala: she wrote on Instagram that she had to work. According to PolitiFact, the images are fake. If there are no other pictures of a scene, it is worth checking.

Homework

Write a five-line message to a relative who believed an AI picture. Explain kindly how you checked.
Answer keyModel answer: greeting, a fact (the singer said she was not there), a method (look for other pictures, read a fact-check), a tip, a closing. Respectful tone.