Derailed by Design: When AI Imagery Distracts from the Lesson
Featured Image by CoPilot
Tiffany’s Reflection on AI Seductive Images
As Kati and I began designing our PowerPoint slides that would become our instructional videos, we turned to AI for specific images to match what we were envisioning. We had learned from our research of Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, that images play a crucial role in how learners process and retain information. Instructive visuals directly support the learning goal. They clarify and reinforce key concepts and should align with the text and/or narration.
At first glance, the AI generated images we requested looked great. But as we inspected them more closely, we realized that some of the pictures AI was giving us were actually seductive visuals – interesting images, but distracting. This kind of image not only distracts form the core content, but in doing so can increase the cognitive load and lead to poorer retention and understanding.
This seemed to be a great picture of someone brushing their teeth. But then we noticed he has about 7 toothbrushes behind him! He is also not properly reflected in the mirror – we should see the back of his head, not the side. His toothbrush is in his mouth in the reflection and one arm is up higher.
This one was meant to be someone going to sleep, but once you notice the three cups of bedtime tea you can’t un-notice it. Also, it looks like this person has sunk into the bed just before the bended knee – is that bed made of quicksand?
Here is an adult eating breakfast. Wonderful… until you realize that he is using a fork and spoon to eat. And what’s in that small white bowl?
This one looks innocent… but check out the guy in the bus shelter – he has only half a bicycle!
Kati requested an image of a child with three pets – a cat, a dog and a fish. Almost ….except the fish is flying out of the boy’s hand.
Kati tried again, asking for the fish to be in the fish bowl, but then even more fish were flying outside the tank, and there were a few extra distorted cats in the background. Maybe one cat per tank-escaping fish?
But perhaps the image that made me laugh the hardest was this one:
I asked for an image of an older man waking up. I got his whole family cheering him on as if any day could be his last – and his eyes are not even open so, why are they cheering? Maybe they are happy he is not waking up, the clock is there so it’s probably counting down the time – STOP – We have been seduced! Any other information that would have gone along with these pictures would have been lost.
Kati noted that perhaps AI is not capable of creating instructive images. It seems to think that more is better – more toothbrushes, more cups, more people waiting for you to wake up. And when it is asked not to do something, that still often triggers it to include the unwanted element in some way. In the two examples below I asked CoPilot to show people who had forgotten to make a cake and forgotten to study.
It insisted on including their thoughts. But at least there weren’t 7 empty cake plates or unread books!
So in the end, I wish even more that I had some artistic ability or unlimited funds to pay for perfectly curated pictures. Hopefully as AI continues to improve in the future, so will the images. Until then, remember – don’t be derailed and fall for seductive and snazzy flying fish – choose an instructional image that will support you and your students’ learning.
References
Mayer, R. E. (2021). Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. In The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning (3rd ed., pp. 57–72). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108894333.008
Derailed by Design: When AI Imagery Distracts from the Lesson © 2025 by Tiffany Kearns is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
