High Schoolers Learn to Spot Deepfakes at UW's MisInfo Day
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High school students attended the University of Washington's MisInfo Day to learn how to identify AI-generated images and online conspiracy theories. The annual event has grown since 2019 as demand for media literacy education increases.
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Students participated in escape rooms where they had to determine if images of human faces were real or AI-generated. This tested their ability to spot deepfakes.
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18 states have now passed bills pushing media literacy education, showing a growing nationwide demand. But there is a partisan gap, with more Democrats than Republicans supporting the need for these skills.
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MisInfo Day started as a popular UW course called “Calling Bulls*** Data Reasoning in a Digital World” and has expanded to train hundreds of teachers to lead these activities in their own classrooms across 10 states and 3 countries.
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Students felt the sessions improved their ability to assess online information critically, but wondered why the training isn't offered more widely, especially for adults who didn't grow up with technology.