Can you tell the difference between an AI-generated image and one taken by a human? Can you differentiate AI art from art produced by an actual artist? Can you tell when content is fabricated rather than factual? The inability to do so opens a doorway to serious consumption of misinformation and disinformation. The lines between factual and fabricated content in a social media-dominated age are becoming increasingly blurry, which is why K-12 schools and higher education establishments need to require students to take media literacy as a subject in their curriculum.
Successfully spotting AI-generated content is part of a larger set of media literacy skills. According to The National Association for Media Literacy Education, media literacy is the ability to encode and decode the symbols transmitted via media and synthesize, analyze and produce mediated messages. With the fast rise of AI and the continued spread of misinformation on social media platforms, media literacy is a skill that every young person needs to learn and get in the habit of using.
As a writing tutor at the Rockowitz Writing Center at Hunter College, I have tutored freshmen who struggle with analyzing and synthesizing print media, which carries over to their inability to critically analyze multimedia content. Young people often don’t see the connection between analysis strategies taught in English classes and media literacy, so they think things such as rhetorical devices are only utilized by writers and academics. According to the News Literacy Project’s 2024 report, 81% of teens who encounter conspiracy theories on social media stated they are inclined to believe at least one. This statistic is alarming as conspiracy theories on social media span from climate change denial to misinformation about COVID-19. Even though certain literacy skills are taught in English classes, schools need to include media literacy strategies and practices as part of mandatory English courses to prevent young people from falling into the conspiracy theory trap.
According to the National Council of Teachers of English, English classes should dedicate more time to teaching persuasive genres due to the casual spread of propaganda on social media. Students need to learn how to recognize persuasive language and interrogate the source for its credibility and intention. The National Council of Teachers of English recommends teachers use curated multimedia and popular culture resources to not only grow an interest within their students but also teach them how to approach media they encounter daily. It is also up to the school administration to take media literacy seriously and make it part of required courses.
Hunter College offers a class that focuses on news literacy, which is a part of media literacy, called News Literacy in a Digital Age. The class is required for media majors and fulfills one of the CUNY Common Core requirements for non-media majors. Even though News Literacy in a Digital Age is an option presented to the student body, I’d argue that it needs to be a mandatory course, similar to English 120 and 220. Students would benefit from learning about media literacy alongside their English courses by creating connections between traditional print media and multimedia. News Literacy in a Digital Age requires students to complete a final project that dissects and debunks a major conspiracy theory. Students would benefit from this course early in their college career by learning essential skills of decoding symbols and recognizing persuasive language, which would only strengthen their critical thinking skills.
Learning media literacy skills would help young people remain critical of harmful ideologies and enhance their lives as media consumers. According to The Stanford History Education Group, two-thirds of students surveyed couldn’t tell the difference between a sponsored ad and a news article. With fascism and alt-right policies on the rise across the United States, now more than ever young people need to be able to distinguish reliable news sources from those who spread misinformation and disinformation. Most importantly, young people must be media literate to make informed political choices that affect them and their communities. For Hunter students, registering for the News Literacy in a Digital Age course is the first step in the right direction.
