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Thank you.\u00a0 Two quotes that I’d like to start with.
\nFIRST (from an advertising exec)
\n\u201c\u201cAnytime generative AI is used to create messaging or imagery, that is misleading,\u201d<\/p>\n
SECOND (from a pollster) “The potential for AI to spread misinformation is already happening. It’s more than just potential. It’s reality.”<\/p>\n
This is a crucial\/critical time in education and in our lives.
\nI can\u2019t think of another time when technology has made so much of an impact, so many headlines, both positive and negative.<\/p>\n
AI is addictive:<\/u> that was the headline last week in the Hechinger Report. The writer makes the point: while it races widely ahead in our lives (and in our schools) we had better study it the way we studied drugs and tobacco.\u00a0 Otherwise, who knows?<\/p>\n
Have you heard of the phrase: Cognitive surrender<\/strong>? experts now describe what happens when users accept what they find on AI, without any critical thought about its truthfulness\u2026<\/p>\n If there is ONE message I want to leave with you tonight it is this: Experts all agree, VERIFYING what we consume is vital\u2014especially NOW in a world where we can\u2019t possibly discern the real from the fake? But how many of us know how to do that or will bother to take the time to do it?<\/p>\n Since we\u2019re gathered at the Otto Bookstore I have 2 books to recommend\u2026and you may want to write these down:\u00a0 FIRST \u201cVERIFIED: How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions about What to Believe Online<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s being called \u201d an indispensable digital literacy guide.\u201d<\/p>\n SECOND is: The Manipulation Machine: How Media, Algorithms, and Power Shape What We Believe In the Age of Propaganda & Digital Influence<\/em><\/p>\n In another article I read last week, the writer said For many years (more than I care to remember) I\u2019ve been teaching media literacy\u2014but it seems to deaf ears. As an administrator in Instructional TV, I was responsible among other things for purchasing film and video for 150 schools. One week, I sat in many classrooms witnessing how educators used the media.<\/p>\n At the end of the week, writing a report for my supervisor, I was actually appalled and dumbfounded. I came back to my office, to investigate what at the time were called CRITICAL VIEWING SKILLS\u2014a phrase that I no longer see. Critical viewing skills, I learned, were part of something larger called MEDIA LITERACY\u2014which I define simply as \u201capplying critical thinking to all media messages.\u201d<\/p>\n So a question to the educators in the audience: since you left college, how many of you have had any media literacy training in all of your years in education?\u00a0 (Since I can\u2019t see you I\u2019m going to guess it\u2019s few of you)<\/p>\n So in conclusion-you can\u2019t teach what you haven\u2019t been taught.<\/p>\n Adding insult to injury, real media literacy, as I define it, is difficult to find implemented in public education.<\/p>\n When MOST PEOPLE hear the word LITERACY, they think of PRINT, not media. But media\u2014that dominate our lives– are designed to be read, analyzed, constructed and deconstructed.<\/p>\n It makes a lot of sense to me that teaching MEDIA LITERACY skills should<\/u> be an integral part of every curriculum\u2019s teacher training plans.<\/p>\n When the Common Core teaching standards were passed 16 years ago, I wrote about what it did not address. Among other things PROPAGANDA was eliminated in the ELA standards of 41 states. (It was replaced by argument.) More than anything, media literacy involves critical inquiry\u2014asking questions about the media we all come in contact with. For you educators: Do your students ask questions? (I\u2019ve been encouraging librarians to post the following questions adjacent to every computer and in every classroom)<\/p>\n Questions like: who\u2019s the author; what\u2019s the purpose of the message; what techniques are they using to gain my attention or make it believable; who benefits from the message: and last (but not least) how might people\u2014different from me\u2014interpret this message differently<\/p>\n These are not all of the media literacy questions, but they are a good starting point.\u00a0 (If you want to download a poster with these questions, I recommend you search for the CENTER FOR MEDIA LITERACYs FIVE KEY QUESTIONS).<\/p>\n So these questions are perfect for all media, including AI. but perhaps more importantly, today we must dig deeper because often, we may not know the source of a deepfake.\u00a0 And if the source is unknown, that might be the first best RED FLAG.<\/p>\n So that brings us to AI. It has exploded. It is widely regarded as a \u201cdisruptive technology\u201d Here\u2019s just one example<\/p>\n At the present time, I am finishing an article for a national MIDDLE school website about the use of AI in political commercials.<\/p>\n Before I began to research it, I speculated that any AI Disclaimer embedded in a commercial (now required by many states) would be so small , and be on the screen for such a short time, that viewers would likely miss it or ignore. I was right. I have already located several examples.<\/p>\n So as you know, with Generative AI, anybody can make anyone say or do anything. And it has already been used.<\/p>\n Political consultant Joe Trippi predicted that: \u201cA.I. will be used to manipulate and influence voters and citizens to stoke political division and further erode community and our democracy.” (quoted in the New York Times<\/a>)<\/p>\n I know for example, that the reputable FACT CHECKING Will young people care if something is manipulated? Here in SC a teacher told me:\u00a0 my students don\u2019t care if it\u2019s fake news. To which I said: if that sentiment is widespread, we\u2019d better deal with their apathy.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThe educational challenge is not only \u2018spotting misinformation\u2019 but understanding why GenAI output can look plausible even when it is wrong, incomplete, or inconsistent. In practice, he argues that students need support to question GenAI responses, verify claims and recognise when a tool is \u2018simulating\u2019 certainty rather than providing actual knowledge.\u201d
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\nA Little History (if you don\u2019t\u2019 mind) AKA how I got here<\/u><\/p>\n
\nFor me it started in the late 90s\u2014I worked in Orlando FL for the public school system\u2014at the time the 16th<\/sup> largest in the US.<\/p>\n
\n-I didn\u2019t witness one teacher employ any pre-viewing, critical thinking questions
\n– I didn\u2019t hear one teacher introduce vocabulary students might experience while watching
\n– and finally I didn\u2019t\u2019 see one educator employ any post viewing questions for understanding<\/p>\n
\nPennsylvania is not a common core state and I was pleased to learn that it IS in the ELA standards: \u201cStudents are taught to identify and analyze it as a critical part of media literacy and informational text\u201d<\/p>\n
\nAnd many of you may be wondering: what does it mean for me and what are the implications for here and now?<\/p>\n
\nsites\u2014such as FactCheck.org, PolitiFact and Associated Press..among others will be among the first to flag and report on the techniques being used in AI deepfakes.<\/p>\n