You already know that digital content can look and move differently from newspapers and TV. Today's question is different. Who can publish things online, and what happens now that machines can publish too?
First you will do a short detective challenge on made-up posts, captions and images. Then you will check a web page for yourself.
In a newspaper or on TV news, a few people called editors check and choose what goes out. Online, almost anyone can publish in minutes, and AI (artificial intelligence) tools can write text and make pictures too.
Do not just go by a feeling. Always ask yourself: who made this, and what evidence can I point to?
As a class, go through all six items in the activity below. Look for tells, which are clues you can point to, and then decide on your verdict, which means how you think it was made:
- Human: probably made by a person, with little or no machine help
- Machine: probably made mainly by an AI tool
- Both: a person and a machine both left their mark on it
- Cannot tell yet: nothing on it points either way, so you would need to check further
- Talk for 20 seconds with the person beside you, and agree on a verdict and the strongest tell you found.
- When your teacher asks, put your hand up for Human, Machine, Both or Cannot tell yet.
- Your teacher taps the verdict the class chose, and the reasoning appears.
In the class poll next, you will judge new items on your own device.
Human, machine, both, or cannot tell yet?
Now everyone votes on five new items, each on your own device. Join with the code on the board.
There is no score and no clock. When the class has voted, the board shows how the class split, and then the answer with the reasoning. After the discussion, your teacher can open the vote again to see who changed their mind.
- For each item, read it and make your choice.
- When the reasoning comes up, compare it with the reason you gave.
Every item has an answer, but being able to explain your choice matters more than getting it right.
Class Poll
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