---
title: "News, social media and AI-made content"
course: "PHIL 120 · Think critically"
unit: "Checking information"
lesson: 10 of 16
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/think-critically/news-social-media-and-ai-made-content
publisher: Maestro College
---

# News, social media and AI-made content

Lesson 10 of 16 in **Think critically** (PHIL 120), unit "Checking information". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Explain why false or misleading content often spreads quickly, including emotion, novelty and algorithms that reward engagement.
- Check an image or video for signs it is old, out of context, edited or AI-generated, and use a reverse image search.
- Recognize misleading headlines and content that is technically true but framed to mislead.
- Decide when to pause before sharing something.

## Teaching notes
Use invented examples, such as an old photo recaptioned as a recent event. Point learners to established fact-checking organizations and original sources. Avoid ruling on current political news; teach the method instead.

## Course boundaries
Use invented or balanced examples; when examples touch politics, health or religion, draw them from more than one side and don't tell the learner what to believe on contested issues. Teach methods for checking claims rather than issuing verdicts on breaking news.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 10 complete: News, social media and AI-made content."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Numbers and statistics claims" (lesson 11 of 16), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/think-critically/numbers-and-statistics-claims.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: Evaluating sources
Next lesson: Numbers and statistics claims