Fact from fiction: boomers to spot AI traps in one hour
Deepfake videos of Donald Trump dancing or Dick Smith selling fake products can defraud people online who think they are credible news.
But a 60-minute verification course designed by media researchers is helping older Australians navigate the online world.
A report by University of Canberra academics found that participants’ media literacy levels increased by 23 per cent after an hour-long lecture, regardless of their background and political beliefs.
The 40-page report showed this had a significant impact on older, regional, less educated, culturally and linguistically diverse people.
“We know that the internet, social media and artificial intelligence are disrupting the information landscape without a consistent barrier to accuracy, independence or ethics,” said Saffron Howden, lead author of the report and PhD candidate.
“In this environment, misinformation has proliferated and threatened social cohesion, public and citizen health, and democracy.”
A total of 79 participants, ages 55 and older, participated physically at libraries or online and were recruited through traditional news media, targeted social media ads, and posters in public libraries.
Health, personal finance and renewable energy are singled out because older Australians are clicking online to access health information, fraudsters are exploiting them financially and climate change is being politicised.
Participants were given tests such as distinguishing between advertising and real news.
After taking the course, researchers found that people were 27 percent better at distinguishing between trustworthy and untrustworthy content.
They were also 32 percent more confident in their ability to verify information.
Skills also remained stable; The average media literacy level remained 11 percent higher than before taking the course.
“Media literacy is a cost-effective and proven way to develop critical thinking skills in an increasingly high-pressure and polarized online ecosystem,” Ms Howden said.
The study comes just days after Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni described artificial intelligence as a potentially existential challenge for news organizations in her keynote speech to media professionals.
“It is our collective responsibility to the public and society to improve our understanding of and understanding of the pitfalls and possibilities of artificial intelligence,” he said.
