The Generative AI Competition

Facilitated by the 2023-2024 UGA Faculty Learning Community “Innovating with AI: In and Beyond the Classroom”

Co-sponsored by the Provost’s Office, the Office of Instruction, and the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Georiga

8 Projects

Click on the images below to learn more about the projects.

ZoneOut

Mustang Machina

Re-imaging Threatened Species in Georgia

Schedule Builder

BrainTwins

DawgConnect

AI Prompt Assessment

Poem on World Peace

3 Winners

1st Place: Fine-Tuning AI Models to Generate More Accurate Images of Threatened Species in Georgia

Project Team: Nora Cryder, Jordan Blackwell, Racquel Lynch, Riley Mclaughlin, Violet Lustiano, Samaya Porter, Payton Presley, Lane Thompson

Threatened Species builds upon the work of artist Sofia Crespo, whose work Critically Extant addresses the lack of online imagery of endangered species. The team decided to focus on species in Georgia, training their AI model to incorporate open-source images of Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, Edmund’s snaketail, the gray bat, and other species. In adopting Crespo’s innovative approach, the team says they are ‘making a small dent in turning the feedback loops more in favor of these species that we find ourselves entangled with here in Georgia.’ Their project helps sheds light on issues of representation in AI models, which carry significant performance, aesthetic, and ethical implications. Their before-and-after animated videos show how their trained model improved upon Stable Diffusion’s default model in rendering several Georgia species. We commend the team for their use of the AI tools RunwayML and Stable Diffusion, as well as their documentation of the technical process they used.
The Judges

2nd Place: Mustang Machina

Project Creator: Racquel Lynch

Mustang Machina is an intriguing and creative example of speculative design—’a critical form of thinking that imagines possible futures which prioritize values over monetary profits.’ We appreciate the detailed description of the process used to transform two-dimensional sketches into three-dimensional animation. We also view the project as an example of AI used appropriately—as a tool to facilitate the creative process rather than as a replacement for human creativity. Good job!
The Judges

3rd Place: ZoneOut

Project Team: Lauren Trimble and Joshua Achiu

ZoneOut offers a creative use of AI that could provide a brief respite to students who are feeling the challenges of everyday life. We very much appreciated the attempt to make something useful for students. But as the authors develop their project, it is important to frame it as a tool to facilitate a break from thinking about school, work, or other things. That is, it may help students ‘zone out’ for a short while—on demand and in an entertaining way. It should not be framed as a therapeutic device for mental health problems since developers are not trained in the creation and delivery of mental health treatments.
The Judges