US Department of Ed: I Can Has Skillz

Earlier this week, the actual United States Department of Education posted this on their dead bird app account-

Once you get past the 1962 Soviet Russia esthetic, there's just a lot of AI sloppage to take in here.

Why so much copper tube, and why is it running everywhere except to the actual faucet? Is that supposed to be the innards of a radiator above the sink? Is some of running into his butt? What the heck is that coupling that the tubing is running into on the left rear corner of the sink?

Once you start looking closely, you'll notice that these tools are some sort of Lovecraftian nightmare. His sort-of-pipe wrench is close, but what the heck is she using to do... something... with the piece of pipe in her hand? What is the odd assortment of unusable wrenches, from the ones only half there to the closed-end wrench with a smooth, round interior-- what bolt do you tighten with that? And what are the assorted odd shapes in their toolbox? 

Her shirt is held shut with snaps or buttons? It doesn't look quite right for either. But his shirt is apparently held shut with patriotic thoughts. Why does he get two flags to her none? Hard to say, but eagle-eyed uniform-knowledgeable viewers will have noticed that the flag on his sleeve is backwards-- stars-forward, as if the flag is advancing into battle, is the correct positioning.

That may or may not be a US Postal Service van behind them, but I'm pretty sure its front end is levitating. What are the two reels of wire for? And why is she looking-- well, neither at him, nor at where he is pointing, nor at whatever operation she's performing with her hand? Also, if she's going to go to work plumbing, she might want to take that ring off. 

This is our tax dollars at work on a project that I think actually would have benefited by being sent to the states. It's progress, I suppose, that at least some people in the department apparently now understand that AI is not a steak sauce. I suppose we can also be grateful that these AI plumbers have the correct number and configuration of limbs (though I have some doubts about his right thumb). But if there was ever an example of work that would be better handled by a stock photo than by AI, this is it.

But no-- we get this amateur hour AI that apparently nobody at the department looked at long or hard enough to notice that maybe the folks who would consider a blue collar job (and lord knows we need more blue collar workers) would look at this and think that the encouragement was coming from someone who doesn't know jack about trades. 

It does make me nostalgic for the days of "All your base are belong to us."

As you might guess, the interwebs have had a field day with this. Here are two alternative takes--