Stepping Into 2026
Wow, it’s here 2026. I said to someone, at least we don’t have to write many checks and check the date regularly for the next couple of months – remember those days?!
Over the holidays I stumbled into a colleague posting a chat, the results of an AI prompt they saw in Mary Nunaley’s post on LinkedIn. I realize that’s not a great way to cite the creator of the post, however getting it second hand makes it a bit harder to credit the author! Although I didn’t follow her post note for note, (don’t worry, be happy) oh sorry word by word, I did give it a whirl and this is what I got from ChatGPT. It’s a bit scary what a little text and an image upload can create nowadays!
Whew. So for me playing with AI is all about understanding what AI is and where it is going, for without understanding it’s hard to evaluate and make decisions. It sure is a fun toy, but as I said before – also a bit scary.
In case you want to give it a try, here is the prompt I used and the photo I uploaded.
PROMPT
Can you help me make an image using this prompt? Use the uploaded photo as the identity reference. Keep my face, hair, skin tone, and outfit accurate. Create a hyper realistic 3D scene where I am breaking out of a LinkedIn mobile timeline right foot first with left foot ready to follow behind. Rebuild the LinkedIn interface from scratch. Include the LinkedIn logo at the top, the profile picture, username is “Shawna Stushnoff Leaving 2025” post frame, reactions row, and the Like Comment Share bar. Include the bottom LinkedIn navigation icons. Place me inside the post image area, then reposition my body so it looks like I am climbing out of the phone and stepping forward out of the timeline. Make one foot extend toward the viewer in full 3D. Add glass shards or pixel fragments around the point where I break through. Lighting should match my original photo. Keep the final image bold and cinematic. I should be wearing blue jeans, a Studio 88 sweatshirt, jewelry, and stylish shoes. At the bottom it should say “Stepping into 2026”
PHOTO
Of course, not all AI image generators are the same, check out what another one gave me. One good lesson there if teaching about the use of AI is rule #1 – you, as the SME, need to fact check. Run your prompt, use your own knowledge to check the work it presented you with, then adjust as needed or change LLMs. As an early assignment in a course, requiring the use of the same prompt in multiple LMM’s, this quick work sample with a requirement to post on a Discussion Board and then consider what went well, not so great, and what adjustments were made, begins to model ethical use of AI. Particularly when the assignment also requires citing of sources, original prompts and edited prompts.
I believe ethical use of AI will be a critical skill going forward, this is a quick and easy way to highlight the importance of some best practices, like fact checking!
2025 saw a surge in interest in AI, let’s see what 2026 brings….