Many educators continue to grapple with the place of technologies like AI image generators in an educational context. Here is an example of how they can be used for educational purposes.
If you Google “Mary Magdalene” and click on the image tab, you will see a lot of art depicting the red haired penitent former prostitute. See my earlier post on the fact that this misrepresents Mary Magdalene, with the story of a student interacting with ChatGPT on the subject.
If you browse what an AI image generator like NightCafe has under that label, you will find the range of pop culture stereotypes about her today, including some that are sexualized or place Jesus and Mary together in a romantic pose.
Before I turn to the images that students prompted AI tools to generate, let me share this image that was provided to me by an AI image generator.
As far as conventional images go, I like the fact that it does one of the things that I sought to do in my chapter on Mary Magdalene in What Jesus Learned from Women. It makes her more “ordinary” and thus realistic than images that suggest a life of prostitution or that make her Jesus’ love interest.
The capacity for AI to generate photorealistic images is illustrated by three that one student shared. The similarity between them is striking, as are the differences.
This student’s image is striking for the same reason.
Contrast the previous one with this one below generated by the same student, which reflects more traditional European artistic traditions, such as the red hair and the jar of perfume reflecting her identification with Mary of Bethany and/or the “sinful woman” from Luke’s Gospel.
Here are some others that students created.
For this one, the student specified that she should look “troubled” reflecting the tradition about her having been freed from seven demons.
For this one, I really want to know what she is up to. Those don’t look like Sabbath candles. Also, who’s that in the background?!
This one hints at something that was likely true about Mary Magdalene, given that she was a financial sponsor of the Jesus movement, namely her wealth.
Here is another red-haired example.
This one also strikes me as more Irish than Middle Eastern.
One more pair from a student, before I tell you what I asked them about the assumptions at work in online art, which is likely to be reflected in AI-generated images.
If you’ve read my book What Jesus Learned from Women you may be able to guess the bias that I pointed out in all of these. They all assume that Mary Magdalene was a young woman, younger than Jesus or at most around his age. The New Testament does not give that impression. Here is an AI-generated image depicting Mary Magdalene as an older woman. It may skew too far in the other direction. On the other hand, someone quite aged and respected would fit the prominence and influence she has among Jesus’ disciples.
What do you think of this example of using AI image generators in an educational context? How might an assignment or classroom activity along these lines work in one of your classes, to not only explore course content, but get students thinking critically about stereotyped images and artificial intelligence as well?
Of related interest:
Peter Chattaway on a recent animated depiction of Mary Magdalene
OmniHuman: ByteDance’s new AI creates realistic videos from a single photo
Disclosing and not disclosing AI usage can both lead to loss of trust, apparently
Image generators in the classroom
If you’d like to listen to some AI-generated music as you ponder these AI-generated images, here is “Mary of the Dawn.”
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