AI-Generated Content in the Wild
Develop sophisticated skills for identifying AI-generated content across text, images, audio, and video.
AI-generated text, images, audio, and video are increasingly indistinguishable from human-created content. Developing detection skills is an essential information literacy competency.
Text: Beyond Surface Features
As AI writing improves, surface features (smooth prose, generic statements) become less reliable indicators. More sophisticated detection focuses on: absence of genuine personal experience, inability to make specific verifiable claims, and patterns in how uncertainty is expressed.
- AI text rarely makes specific, verifiable claims with sources
- AI text tends to present "both sides" without taking a position
- AI text lacks genuine personal experience or specific institutional knowledge
- AI text often uses hedging language ("it is important to note," "it is worth considering")
Audio and Video Deepfakes
Audio deepfakes can clone a person's voice from a few seconds of audio. Video deepfakes can place a person's face on another body or make them appear to say things they never said. Detection is increasingly difficult and requires multiple approaches.
- Inconsistent lip sync with audio
- Unnatural blinking patterns or eye movement
- Inconsistent lighting between face and background
- Artifacts at the edges of the face
- Unnatural skin texture or hair movement
Rather than trying to detect AI content from its features alone, focus on provenance — where did this content come from? Who published it? When? Can it be verified through independent sources? Provenance is more reliable than feature-based detection.
Ready to test your knowledge?
3 questions · Grade 9 level