Media Literacy as Preventive Mental Health Care
The governor of California recently approved a bill prohibiting the distribution of AI-generated media including deceptive audio and visual media about a political candidate within 60 days of an election, unless clearly indicating that the content was AI-generated. While this represents an attempt to curtail the use of false information to influence elections, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between misinformation and disinformation. The advent of artificial intelligence has complicated things even further.
Misinformation refers to false content that is inadvertently shared with others, while disinformation involves the deliberate use of falsified material to influence others' opinions. The COVID-19 pandemic is a recent reminder of the potential impact this type of information has on people’s public perceptions. So many people compromised their health by following unverified health suggestions that in 2021, the U.S. surgeon general asked people to stop the spread of health misinformation. This begs the question: how can people be certain of what information can be trusted?
While installing a ministry of truth is too Orwellian, targeting the way people consume and........
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