BIAS & BELIEFS
What is bias?
When someone’s existing beliefs, feelings, experiences, or perspectives influence how they understand or present information.
The system that recommends videos and content based on your interactions.
What is information literacy?
The ability to find, understand, evaluate, and use information responsibly.
What is a companies main goal?
To make money/keep people interacting with their thing
True or False - AI is alive and knows you personally
False
True or False: If a news article is biased, the information in it must be false.
False. Biased information can contain completely accurate facts.
Why might TikTok recommend more videos about a topic after you spend several minutes watching similar videos?
Because algorithms use your behavior and engagement to determine what content to recommend.
What is the main difference between misinformation and disinformation/hoax?
Disinformation involves deliberately spreading false or misleading information to deceive people. Misinformation does not require an intention to deceive.
Why might a social media company want users to spend more time scrolling?
More time on the platform can create more opportunities to show advertisements, collect engagement data, and generate revenue.
What is ragebait?
Content deliberately designed to provoke anger or outrage to attract attention and engagement.
Someone believes their favorite musician is the greatest artist alive. They praise every positive review but dismiss every negative review as stupid.
What type of bias does this demonstrate?
Confirmation bias.
A person repeatedly watches political videos supporting one viewpoint. Eventually, their feed contains almost nothing that challenges that viewpoint.
What is this called?
Filter Bubble
Accountability
A website publishes an exaggerated headline to get people to click on an article.
What is this technique called, and what might the website gain from it?
Clickbait. The website may gain attention, traffic, advertising revenue, or engagement.
A chatbot confidently provides a detailed explanation of a historical event, including a quotation that never existed.
What is the biggest lesson about using AI demonstrated here?
AI can produce convincing but inaccurate information, so its claims should be verified.
Two headlines describe the same event:
A. “Students Protest New School Policy”
B. “Angry Students Disrupt School Operations”
What technique explains how these headlines encourage different reactions?
Framing
A video makes thousands of people furious. They argue in the comments, share it, and watch it repeatedly.
Why might an algorithm continue recommending the video?
Because the video generates significant engagement, which can encourage the platform to recommend it to more users.
A social media post claims that a celebrity has been arrested. It has thousands of likes and includes a convincing photograph.
Name TWO things you should do before believing or sharing it.
Any two reasonable verification strategies, such as:
An influencer recommends a product without telling viewers that the company paid them.
Why might this be misleading?
Viewers may believe the recommendation is completely independent when the influencer has a financial incentive to promote the product.
A political advertisement uses emotional music, carefully selected images, and persuasive language to influence how people feel about a candidate.
What general type of messaging does this demonstrate?
Propaganda
A politician gives a speech containing only accurate statistics. However, they deliberately leave out several important statistics that would weaken their argument.
Can the speech still be misleading? Explain why.
Yes. Someone can mislead an audience by selectively presenting true information while leaving out important context. (Omission Bias)
A video receives 15 million views.
Does that mean the video is accurate, important, or trustworthy? Explain.
No. Popularity does not establish accuracy or importance. Videos can become popular because they are entertaining, emotional, controversial, surprising, or heavily promoted by algorithms.
A news agency is paid off to write a good article about Google. What journalism standard are they breaking?
Independence
A company profits from a controversial social media post spreading widely.
Does the fact that the company benefits automatically prove the post is false or that the company deliberately created it?
No. Having an incentive or benefiting from something does not automatically prove dishonesty or deliberate manipulation.
A social media user repeatedly encounters the same harmful message. Eventually, something they initially considered shocking begins to seem ordinary.
What concept describes this process, and why can it be dangerous?
Normalization. Repeated exposure can make harmful behavior, language, or ideas seem ordinary or acceptable.