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Shockingly Hopeful: The Only News I Watch Now
The kids’ version makes me believe in the future again.
The other night, my wife and I were watching a news program for children. It’s something we have been doing a lot lately. They were discussing fake news.
“Social media is full of it. Viral surveillance footage of rabbits and other animals trying out a trampoline. But it’s fake. Made with AI.”
Then the reporter asked:
“How do you make a fake video?”
“Can children tell what’s real and what’s AI?”
The kids, I guess they were about ten years old (Gen Alpha), laughed at the jumping giraffe and bear. They knew those were fake. But when shown more serious fake content, it got much harder.
And, they hated it.
They really disliked AI-generated videos. To them, these videos were not just “not real.” They felt even less authentic than a 1960s Star Trek episode or a sci-fi film shot on an old set with props and models. Those were made by people, after all.
They all agreed that a warning should be displayed with any AI-generated content, such as videos.
Watching them reminded me of my own childhood. Sitting cross-legged in front of the TV, the news always felt…
