Welcome, parents (and teachers), to an important conversation about media literacy, specifically in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI).  

• Media literacy encompasses the ability to comprehend and assess what we see, read, and hear across various media platforms such as TV shows, movies, websites, and social media. It involves understanding how media messages are crafted, discerning their truthfulness, and recognizing persuasive intent. These skills enable our children to make informed choices about their online consumption and sharing habits. 

• AI refers to the computer systems that mimic some aspects of human intelligence like learning from experience and recognizing patterns. In our children’s lives, AI is present in educational apps that personalize learning, entertainment platforms that recommend content, and virtual assistants that assist with tasks. 

As AI technologies become increasingly ingrained in our daily lives, it’s necessary for us to assist our children in understanding the digital content they encounter. This blog aims to explore the importance of media literacy within the realm of AI and provide practical guidance for parents to help their children develop these indispensable skills. Keep reading and take a guided tour through the digital world with Think Skill Tools. 

Safeguarding Privacy in the Digital Sphere 

Privacy stands as a towering concern in the realm of media literacy. If you want to learn even more about privacy and safety (as a form of digital literacy) read our blog here. With the relentless collection and inspection of our data, protecting our personal information online becomes paramount, especially for our children. Data refers to pieces of information that are collected and stored by sites and, in some cases, sold to big tech companies. It can include numbers, words, images, or any other type of information. Keep in mind that media platforms like Google, Netflix, Instagram, Twitch, and Facebook often rely on collecting and analyzing user data to personalize content and enhance user experiences. 

As parents, it’s essential for us to grasp these practices to make informed decisions about which platforms are suitable for our children. But how can we achieve data protection on the platforms that our children are currently using? It begins with a diligent review of privacy settings on devices and apps, a habit we must cultivate regularly. Have you checked your family devices for key privacy settings?  

Here are some essential privacy settings options to consider implementing on your family devices: 

• Parental Controls: Activate parental controls on devices and internet browsers to filter inappropriate content and set usage limits, ensuring a safer online experience. 
• Social Media Privacy: Guide children on adjusting privacy settings on social media platforms to limit who can see their profiles and posts, safeguarding their personal information from potential threats. 
• Location Services: Disable location tracking on children’s devices and apps to protect their privacy and safety, preventing unauthorized access to their whereabouts. 
• Safe Search: Enable safe search filters on search engines to prevent children from accessing explicit or inappropriate content, maintaining a secure browsing environment. 
• App Permissions: Review and manage permissions for apps installed on children’s devices to control access to sensitive information and features, minimizing the risk of data misuse. 
• Online Accounts: Teach children to create strong passwords and encourage them to use separate accounts for different online activities, enhancing the security of their digital profiles. 
• Cyberbullying Awareness: Discuss cyberbullying with children and encourage them to report any instances of harassment or inappropriate behavior online, fostering a culture of empathy and support in digital communities. 

Tips for Nurturing Media Literacy

Here’s the term ‘media literacy’ again, but it’s more than just a buzzword—remember, it’s a crucial skill set for individuals, like our children, to thrive in the digital age. As parents, it’s essential to help our kids develop strong media literacy skills, particularly with the prevalence of AI. 

Here are some actionable tips to navigate these issues together: 

• Initiate Conversations: Engage in open discussions with your children about the role of AI in their online experiences. Encourage them to share their thoughts and questions and provide age-appropriate explanations to deepen their understanding. 
  • Be ready to explain and answer questions. If your child asks why certain videos always appear in their recommendations and not yours, you can explain how algorithms analyze their viewing history to keep them online and market to them effectively. This helps deepen their understanding of AI’s influence on their online activities. 
• Promote Critical Thinking: Foster a habit of critical thinking by encouraging your children to question the information they encounter online. Teach them to evaluate sources for credibility, bias, and reliability before accepting them as truth. 
• Emphasize Verification: Teach your children the importance of fact-checking by verifying information from multiple reliable sources. Show them how to cross-reference information to ensure accuracy and integrity. 
• Lead by example: Model critical thinking skills by demonstrating how you evaluate information online. Share your thought process when researching a topic or fact-checking a claim and involve your children in the process. 
  • Let’s say you come across a news article claiming that eating chocolate can make you smarter. Instead of taking it at face value, involve your children in evaluating the credibility of the source and fact-checking the claim together. Try turning it into a race by challenging your children to find evidence disproving the claim before you. 
• Encourage Exploration: Inspire your children to explore new skills through age-appropriate activities and discussions. Foster their curiosity by introducing them to real-world examples of AI applications. 
• Try out your Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, or Google Assistant learning and education functions. 
  • Try asking, “Device, play a trivia game” or “Device, play 20 Questions about animals.” 
  • Or ask, “Device, teach me a Spanish word” or “Device, tell me a fun fact about dinosaurs.” 
• Establish Digital Boundaries: Set clear guidelines for technology use, including screen time limits and rules for accessing online content. Help your children develop responsible digital habits by modeling healthy technology use and prioritizing offline activities. 
• Check-in on the Science:  
  • Oswald and their colleagues (2020) researched, The psychological impacts of “screen time” and “green time” for children and adolescents: A systematic scoping review from the University of Adelaide, in Adelaide, Australia.  
  • This review looks at how much time kids spend on screens (like phones and tablets) versus how much time they spend outside in nature, and how it affects their feelings. It found that too much screen time usually leads to feeling down, while being outside in nature makes kids feel happier. But we need more studies to be sure. These researchers think future studies should look at different types of screen time (like watching videos versus playing games) and different ways kids spend time outside (like playing in the park versus going for a hike). Even though more research is needed, it seems like being in nature could help balance out too much screen time, which could be good for kids’ feelings, especially in today’s world, where screens are everywhere. 

What’s happening with AI today?

Today, AI shapes our digital world, from virtual assistants like Alexa to recommendation algorithms on platforms like Netflix and TikTok. Algorithms fuel your social feeds by analyzing your activity, interests, and connections to personalize the content you see. They determine which posts, ads, and recommendations appear on your feed, aiming to show you content that you’re likely to engage with based on your behavior and preferences. 

But its impact goes beyond convenience. Consider your child’s future career path – AI is poised to play a significant role in shaping it. Nowadays, some large companies utilize Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to streamline their hiring processes. ATS systems utilize AI algorithms to sift through received resumes faster. Learn how to optimize a resume in our latest blog post. While AI presents numerous opportunities, it also poses challenges, such as the emergence of “deep fakes.” Deep fakes are hyper-realistic videos or audio recordings manipulated using AI, portraying individuals saying or doing things they never did. Deep fakes pose risks like spreading misinformation and online bullying. Teaching our children to question and verify online information is crucial for navigating the digital landscape safely.  

Another challenge is biases in the data that AI uses to respond to your questions. These biases can lead to unfair or discriminatory outcomes, affecting decisions in areas like hiring and healthcare settings. It’s crucial for us to be aware of these biases and advocate for fair and ethical AI practices to ensure a more equitable digital landscape for our children. To learn more about how scientists today are fighting the biases found within AI, grab your favorite movie snack, and watch The Coded Bias documentary found on Netflix.  

Our children need to understand that not everything online is true. They should be cautious, especially if it seems too good to be true or out of character for someone they know. Teaching kids to question and verify the information they encounter online is essential in navigating the digital world safely. 

This chart offers practical tips tailored to different age groups to assist parents in navigating the digital landscape and identifying potential deep fakes or misinformation: 

Verification Tips	Middle school (ages 11-13)	Highschool (ages 14-18)
Source Verification	Encourage children to ask for the original source of content, especially if it’s unfamiliar or suspicious.  If they come across a news article shared on social media, teach them to click on the link and check the website’s credibility before believing or sharing the information.	Teach teens to verify the source of content by checking for credible sources and questioning the reliability of unfamiliar sources.  If they receive a forwarded message claiming a celebrity said something controversial, encourage them to search for the original interview or statement to confirm its authenticity.
Analyze Facial Expressions and Movements	Help children recognize unnatural movements or glitches in videos, which may indicate potential manipulation.  Show them videos with obvious alterations or deep fakes and discuss the differences in facial expressions and movements compared to real footage.	Guide teens to be vigilant about facial expressions and movements in videos, encouraging them to question the authenticity of content.  If they encounter a video that seems suspicious, prompt them to look for inconsistencies in lip-syncing or facial reactions that could suggest manipulation.
Consider Context	Teach children to assess whether the content aligns with the person or situation depicted, questioning any inconsistencies they notice.  If they see a photo allegedly taken at a recent event but notice discrepancies in the background, discuss how these inconsistencies raise doubts about the photo’s authenticity.	Encourage teens to critically evaluate the context of content, considering whether it aligns with known facts or if there are inconsistencies that raise doubts.  If they read a news article that contradicts previous reports on the same topic, prompt them to investigate further and verify the accuracy of the information from multiple sources.
Use Fact-Checking Tools	Introduce children to fact-checking websites or tools designed to detect misinformation and deep fakes, emphasizing the importance of verifying information before believing or sharing it.  Show them how to use fact-checking websites like Snopes to verify the accuracy of viral claims or rumors.	Empower teens to utilize fact-checking tools independently, teaching them how to discern credible sources and verify the accuracy of information they encounter online.  Demonstrate how to use browser extensions Checkology to evaluate the credibility of news websites and articles before sharing them on social media.