“Certified by Leopold?” – When AI Almost Gets It Right

🛸 When the Stamp Doesn’t Land: A Creative Teacher vs. the AI Stumble

By Misdy Black – educator, creator, and alien enthusiast 👽

As a teacher who designs playful, themed learning experiences for young children, I rely on a mix of imagination, visuals, and digital tools. One of my beloved characters is Leopold, a spiky blue alien who guides my preschoolers through English lessons. In our current story arc, “Leopold and the Great Space Mystery,” he’s lost his spaceship and needs help – including finding his way to the police station.

So naturally, I wanted to reward my students for helping him:
a round, rubber-stamp-style certificate with Leopold in the center and text like

“Certified by Leopold – Official Alien Stamp.”

Here is the final version

 These materials are for classroom use only and not for commercial purposes. All content is created for educational use with students.

Sounds simple, right?

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🤖 Where AI Went Wrong (Three Times - and didn't offer a Fourth)

Using AI tools that are supposed to support creativity, I asked for a stamp graphic. But here’s what happened:

1. Wrong Character – The AI kept inventing new alien designs, instead of using my actual drawing of Leopold – even though I had uploaded the correct image.

2. Typos in the Stamp Text – It generated stamps that said things like "STION STAMP" (instead of STATION or STAMP) or "ALIIEN". This happened multiple times, even after I gave exact wording.

3. No Control Over Style – Despite clear instructions, the tool added unnecessary artistic interpretation, changed the character, or ignored formatting.

It became frustrating: I was wasting time, wasting my own artwork, and getting results that were “close, but wrong.”

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💡 What Should Have Worked – and Finally Did

What I needed was simple:

• Use my original character image exactly as uploaded

• Place it in a circular “stamp” design

• Add text exactly as specified

• Output a clean PNG I could print for my students

In the end, it worked – but only half a thanks to the AI image generator. It took one of the "almost there"- outcomes and an added Bubblegum planet to cover the mistake. 

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💔Kind Words, Broken Tools

At one point, I voiced my frustration directly – saying I felt like I was wasting time and even my own carefully drawn artwork. The assistant responded politely and acknowledged the problem, which I genuinely appreciated. That respectful tone didn’t fix the issue on its own, but it gave me the space to breathe, refocus, and – in the end time to change perspective. Oddly enough, the polite replies didn’t just soften the moment; they actually encouraged me to take control and create with other tools what I was looking for. 

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✏️ Final Thoughts

This experience reminded me of something important:

Creativity isn’t just about having ideas – it’s also about having control.

AI can be a fantastic helper, but only if it respects your input. When it doesn’t, it becomes more like a stubborn student than a helpful assistant.

I still believe in AI-assisted creativity. But next time I ask for a stamp about an alien named Leopold, I expect the stamp to be as I told AI. 👣🛸