1. a) How has your awareness of Coast Salish Art in our community changed? Be specific and give at least one example.

This assignment helped me have a better understanding of Coast Salish Art. For example, I learned that the shapes all have a different meaning. The main shapes used are the crescent, circle, oval, trigon, extended crescent, and U-Form. The circle represents the moon and the sun as well as cycles. Including the cycle of life, nature, and everything else. The crescent represents the moon, which brings change. The four points of the trigon include physical self, emotional self, mental self, and spiritual self. I learned that the circles are meant to represent joints and they vary in size depending on the importance of the joint. The crescents are used to accent the circles. I realized that Coast Salish Art is more about the meaning behind the art, and it does not need to be detailed. I learned that in Coast Salish Art, sometimes less is more. If you fill your animal with too many shapes, it can look too crowded, and it might be best to keep it simple. I have never paid attention to the Coast Salish Art in my community, but I am sure I will notice it more, now that I know what it is. I am now more aware of the meaning behind Coast Salish art and the importance of it in communities.  

Winter sports

My paragraph:

There are many winter sports that have gained popularity over the years, including ringette, hockey, skiing, and many other snow sports. Ringette was created in 1963 by Sam Jacks, with the intention of being an inclusive sport for girls. Even though winter sports have gained in popularity, they have also become more and more expensive, making them less inclusive. Thanks to the increase in popularity of the sports, people have begun to not dread winter as much. It gives everybody something to look forward to. However, with climate change, some winter sports are beginning to be in danger.  Many winter sports, such as skiing can be very dangerous and studies have shown that wearing a helmet during winter sports, severely reduces the risk of serious brain injury and even death. Therefore, there are many winter sports to choose from nowadays, some more dangerous than others, but they are becoming less available to everyone.

AI written paragraph:

Prompt: Write me a paragraph of 8 sentences about winter sports, include sports like ringette, skiing, and other snow sports. Include the risks and exclusivity of the sport as well as the popularity.

Winter sports encompass a variety of exhilarating activities, including skiing, snowboarding, and ringette, each offering thrills and risks on icy terrains. These sports demand specialized equipment and training, contributing to their exclusivity. Skiing remains a dominant force in the winter sports scene, popular among thrill-seekers and families alike. Snowboarding attracts its own dedicated following, with riders mastering jumps and tricks on snowy slopes. Meanwhile, ringette fosters a tight-knit community, blending elements of hockey and teamwork on ice. Athletes and spectators alike are captivated by these sports, whether speeding down slopes, carving through powder, or maneuvering on frozen lakes. Despite the inherent dangers, participants embrace the challenges, finding joy in the chilly embrace of winter. With their unique blend of excitement, skill, and camaraderie, winter sports attract enthusiasts from all corners of the globe.

Reflection questions:

What was your experience in using AI?

I found that it quickly generated the paragraph. However, it was difficult to get AI to write me 8 paragraphs. It would either write too little or too much. I had to use a detailed prompt to ensure that AI wrote of similar topics. When I asked it to write a paragraph about winter sports, it was too broad and kept making it point form.

Was the paragraph the AI generated accurate? Fact-check any new information and see if it’s true.

The paragraph that AI generated was accurate and it was similar to my paragraph. However, it used a larger vocabulary and added more detail. The AI generated paragraph did not include any dates or stats. It mainly talked about popular winter sports.

Was the exercise useful? How can this help you with your learning going forward?

I think the exercise was useful because it showed the flaws of AI. It is very intelligent; however, you need to be specific about what you want it to do. In this case I think it was easier to write the paragraph using my notes, because I knew exactly what information to add. Going forward, I will use AI to generate ideas and find information but do the actual work myself. I will also make sure to fact-check any information AI gives me.

Were your results expected? Yes, or no? Explain.

No, I expected AI to be easier to use. I found that I had to give it detailed prompts to write me a paragraph. I did find that it was a very well written paragraph, which I did expect. I knew that AI pulls information from all over the web, so I expected it to have a rich vocabulary and lots of detail.

I found a post on Facebook claiming that ice flowers were forming on the Songhua River in China. The images looked almost too good to be true, so I decided to fact check it. This was posted on January 1st, 2023. It says that according to China’s People’s Daily newspaper the formation of the flowers usually occurs in late autumn or early winter. It claims that “Netizens can’t stop gushing over the amazing photographs.”

1. The first thing I did was verify if the Curly Tales were reliable. I noticed that they had a blue check mark, however you can buy blue checkmarks. This means that the blue checkmark does not mean they are verified. They have 3.5 million followers, and they give tips about food and travel experiences in India.

I checked their YouTube account and found a description of their channel. They claim to be India’s No.1 food and travel channel. Looking at their YouTube account, they only post things about Indian food and travel. This means that they are NOT experts on the field in which they were commenting on. The frozen flowers were found in China NOT India. This is a good indication that the post could be fake.

2. Secondly, using Snopes.com, I found an article that talked about ice flowers being fake. The rating was fake, claiming that AI was used to create the images. In the article on snopes.com, the author Aleksandra Wrona mentioned that the same images were also shared on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and X. I also found more about Aleksandra Wrona on Snopes.com, proving that she is a reliable author.

3- Using TinEye, I did a reverse image search on the images, and it showed that the images were originally shared on reddit. I searched if reddit was a reliable source and found that since anybody can post, there is often a lot of conspiracy theories and fake news shared.

4. I used Illuminarty, which checks if images are AI generated. The AI percentages were fairly high, meaning that the images were most likely AI generated and not real. The first image is 84.4% AI generated and the second one is 79.5% AI generated.

5.Fifthly, I searched “ice flowers in frozen river hoax.” Many articles came up that said the images were AI generated. Here are some of the articles that came up : hkbu.edu.hk, telugupost.com. I also did a Wikipedia search for HKBU and found that they are a reliable source. I could not find a Wikipedia page about the telugupost.com, but on their website they fact check lots of articles and were founded in 2016. The author of the telugupost.com is Satya Priya who has more than 4 years of experience fact checking. The fact that multiple articles came up when I added the word “hoax” into the search, also leads me to believe these images could be fake.

Wikipedia page about HKBU:

HKBU Website:

Telugupost.com:

About Satya Priya:

6. Using another website called Baidu, I found more images of the ice flowers. They were much smaller and described as white feathers. Doing a quick Wikipedia search, I found that Baidu is one of the largest AI companies in the world, meaning these images are also not real.

Wikipedia page about Baidu:

Based on many sources the ice flowers found in the Songhua River in China are FAKE.

On November 1st, I went to my aunt’s workplace called EarthDaily analytics. It is in the Vancouver Convention center right next to BC place. I learned a lot about satellites and the projects that they are launching. I learned was it was like to be in an office all day and go to multiple meetings every day. The company is planning to launch satellites in June. Theses satellites will constantly be taking images of the earth and will be able to compare the images. These images will help give them information about climate change, farming, droughts, and lots of helpful information. At the workplace, my aunt explained to me how satellites work and how satellite imaging works. I attended a couple of meetings, and they talked about potential projects. They are constantly problem solving and learning new things and researching more information. In this post I will share more about my experience at EarthDaily analytics. 

1. What did you hear, see, smell, and feel in the work environment on Nov. 1st?

I spent my day at EarthDaily analytics with my aunt. The building was an office in downtown Vancouver in the convention Center right next to Canada Place. It was very cool inside the office because the walls were made of glass, making the whole place see through. Each of the meeting rooms had a name. For example, one was called mountain and the other forest, so that you knew which room to go to. The offices had an incredible view of the water and mountains. Everybody was very inviting and friendly. It was quite quiet inside because everybody was working on their computers. One of my favourite things was that the boss had a dog. Its name was churro, and it was adorable. There was another dog too, that was also quite cute. One of my aunt’s coworkers, John, brought some sort of chocolate ball dessert that was rolled in sprinkles, and I thought it tasted quite good. We went out for lunch and then we went for a short walk along the seawall, when we returned to the office it was extremely hot on the inside, but I suppose it was because it was cold outside. I met with one person near the end of the day named Meriam. She explained to me how she ended up at EarthDaily analytics and what courses she took. She grew up in Spain and said that when she was little, she wanted to be a pilot. Her father said it would be too expensive, so she had to think about what else she wanted to do. Then she wanted to be an astronaut and discovered her passion for astronomy. She decided to study physics in university and studied black holes. When she moved to Canada, she decided she wanted to be a software engineer at EarthDaily because she would be able to combine her passion of astronomy with her love for earth and animals. I find her story interesting because she changed her idea of what job she wanted so many times. During the meetings I attended, I noticed that each room had TV for teams’ meetings, a table, a whiteboard, and comfortable chairs. The space itself was not that large but there was a lot of people working there. Overall, it was a workplace packed with interesting sounds, sights, smells, and feelings.

2. What about the environment would motivate you to wake up every day to attend work?

One plus about the location of the office is that there is a lot of stores that you could go to for lunch, or you could go for a walk around the seawall. The office also has a beautiful view which is very lovely. In terms of the workplace everybody was welcoming and that would motivate me to attend work daily. On the inside of the office, it is all very visible, and you are surrounded by gorgeous views so that would also be motivating. I attended a couple of meetings, and they talked about satellite imagery, and they were talking about a field test they were debating of running in the following week. There was a lot of problem solving that took place. My aunt said that every day she is learning something new. The fact that you are always learning something new would keep me engaged and keep work interesting. If you already know all the answers, then things become less interesting. Currently, they are trying to train AI to be able to identify tracks on fields. My aunt said that when she started working, she knew almost nothing about AI, and she has learned quite a bit about it from her colleagues. In conclusion, there would always be new things to learn, and it would continue to be interesting.

3. What about the work environment would discourage you from waking up every day to attend work?

An important part of this job is attending a lot of meetings. This is something that would discourage me from waking up every day to attend work because sometimes too many meetings become boring. Personally, I did not become bored in any of the meetings because all the information was new to me, but I am sure that after a while they had become less and less captivating. Another thing is that since the room has all glass walls. It is quite easy for people to observe what you are doing, whether you like it or not. Sometimes it might feel as if you do not have much privacy. It is a lot of computer work and there are times when you must brainstorm a lot and so sometimes you might not want to spend so much time at the office. This convention center is in downtown Vancouver, and it takes a while to get there in traffic. This would mean you would need to wake up earlier to arrive at work on time. I had an enjoyable time at the workplace today and it is hard to find too many since there are so many negative things.

4. What is ONE thing you found interesting about your workplace visit?

The thing I found the most interesting was learning about satellite imagery. My aunt made a PowerPoint, that I took pictures of a couple of slides. I learned that when satellites take picture at first all you will see is a whole bunch of numbers and then you extract it and see the raw footage which is only red, green, and blue. From there it goes through a whole bunch of processing and then you can see the completed image. There are tons of satellites in space, and most of them work by passing a ground signal and then it knows when to take the image and then it goes around the earth a couple of times. EarthDaily is launching their satellites in June 2024. Their satellites are a bit different because they contain 22 bands whereas the usual ones only have 3+. Different bands (Colours) are used to detect forest fire or agriculture or melting ice and with 22 bands there are lots of possibilities. The satellites they are launching will take pictures everyday making it possible to observe and compare changes in the earth. This is beneficial because then you can observe what climate change trends, or it could help with earthquakes. One of the employees at EarthDaily told me that because of the atmosphere, sometimes the images are not noticeably clear since there is so much pollution. The images then must be cleaned, and this can be difficult. Satellites can take images through dirt, but it there are clouds in the way, the pictures it takes will not be visible. In the image below there is a slide that compares satellite images to pie. The raw downloaded date is like raw apples, it is not tasty, and it is dirty and not very pleasant to look at. The normal image is like a baked pie, it is good and all the data you need it is there. Once you add the analytics, then it is like adding ice cream. It makes the whole thing better. I liked how she compared it to a pie because it makes it easier to understand when it is something in everyday life. I found it interesting to find more about satellites and learn what it is like to be a part of a large project.