Evaluating AI Generated Content
Overview
Students use AI tools to create a fake news article, social media post, image, or podcast to understand how easily AI can create realistic but misleading content.
Why Use This?
This activity encourages students to use AI authentically while teaching them how to detect when AI might be used to mislead them. This experiential approach—asking students to create fake content themselves—makes abstract concepts about misinformation more tangible and memorable. The activity also prompts deeper reflection on the ethical and societal implications of AI-generated misinformation.
How Does It Work?
Students use an AI tool to generate a fake piece of content based on a real news story or current event. They then post their creation to a discussion board, along with a brief explanation of how they made it and what makes it believable. Importantly, students must also clearly label their content as fake to avoid confusing or misleading anyone. This creates a gallery of fake content for the class to browse and analyze. Afterward, students share their impressions and reflections on the ethical and societal implications of fake or misleading AI-generated content.
Lesson 11A Exercise: AI-Generated Fake Content
Media Literacy in Action
This activity will help you practice the following media literacy techniques:
Think about the reality vs. fantasy continuum.
Acquire a broad base of knowledge.
Become more skilled at designing messages.
Take personal responsibility.
In this assignment, you will use AI tools to create a fake piece of content, such as an image, text, news story, or social media post. The goal is to understand how easily AI can create realistic but misleading content, which will help you explore the ethical and societal implications of AI-generated misinformation. After creating and sharing your content with classmates, you will reflect on the potential impact of such content on media consumers and society as a whole.
Initial Post
Create your fake content:
○ Use an AI tool to generate a piece of content that isn’t real, but is about a real news story or current event. This could be:
A news article
A social media post or tweet from a fictional account
A manipulated image, meme, or “deepfake” style video
A podcast
Ensure that your content is clearly marked as fake before sharing it with your classmates (e.g., add a label to the image or state in your post that this content is fabricated for the assignment).
Potential AI Tools
You can use one or a combination of these tools to complete this assignment. You can also use an AI tool of your choice.
ChatGPT
Claude
Gemini
Copilot
Adobe Firefly (images only)
Notebook LM (can create podcasts)
You are not expected to pay for any AI tool. Many have free versions that should allow you to complete this exercise.
Post your content in the discussion:
○ Share your AI-generated content (upload the image, screenshot, or text). Make sure you indicate that the content you are sharing is FAKE.
○ Briefly explain the process you used to create the content and which AI tool(s) you used.
○ Describe what you think makes your content believable and the type of audience that might be misled by it.
Post your response by clicking the Reply button at the bottom of the page.
Reply Post
You should reply to at least two different peers. Your reply should address the following:
Share your initial reaction: How believable was the content?
Discuss what strategies you might use to identify this content as fake if you encountered it online.
Reflect on any aspects of the content that you found particularly challenging to identify as fake and why.
Answer this prompt: What are the ethical implications of creating fake content using AI? How might AI-generated fake content impact society? Consider the perspectives of content creators, artists, and consumers.
Keep In Mind
- Consider proactively addressing AI by critically examining its applications and uses yourself, then determining which ones will be most beneficial to students.
- Rather than avoiding the technology, find out how it may benefit students and design activities to help them use it critically and to support their learning.