Judging AI claims in the news
Ask six simple questions that sort solid AI news from hype, panic and press release
A taste of a lesson
A headline says AI will replace 40% of jobs. Should I believe it?
Let's apply the questions. Who says so: a consultancy, a researcher, a company selling AI? What was measured: usually 'exposure', meaning the share of tasks AI could affect, not jobs that will vanish. Compared to what timeframe and assumptions? Often unclear. Exposure can mean a job changes, gets assisted, or shrinks; which happens depends on costs, laws and management choices. So a fairer reading is 'many jobs include tasks AI might affect'. Exercise: find the original report and check whether it says 'replace' or 'exposed'.
Written by the teacher as an example. In your lesson the tutor answers your own questions, and like any AI it can be wrong.
What you will be able to do
- Apply six questions to evaluate any AI news story
- Spot common distortions such as demos as products and exposure as job loss
- Distinguish relative from absolute effects and lab from real world results
- Explain your judgment of an AI claim clearly to someone else
Lesson plan
- 1 Reading past the headline Find the actual claim beneath a dramatic headline. Start
- 2 Who says so and who benefits Weigh sources, funding and incentives. Start
- 3 What was tested, against what Understand what a study or demo actually measured. Start
- 4 Sizes, samples and certainty Judge how big and how reliable an effect is. Start
- 5 Jobs, forecasts and surveys Interpret predictions about work and society carefully. Start
- 6 Putting the checklist to work Evaluate full stories and explain your verdict. Start
Try asking
About this tutor
For anyone who reads headlines like 'AI beats doctors' or 'AI will replace half of jobs' and wonders what to believe. You learn six questions to ask of any AI story: who says so, what exactly was tested, compared to what, on whom, how big is the effect, and who benefits from the claim. You practise on realistic headlines covering medicine, jobs, education and safety, and learn common distortions such as demos presented as products, lab results presented as real world results, and surveys presented as forecasts. No technical background needed. You leave able to read AI news calmly and explain your judgment to others.
Reviews
4.5
4 ratingsSample
- Lars E.Sample
Good on relative versus absolute numbers. I would have liked a real case study, but I understand why it used invented headlines.
- Precious M.Sample
I teach media studies and adapted the six questions for my students. Clear, fair to both hype and doom.
- Aiko N.Sample
Useful checklist. The exposure versus job loss distinction was new to me. Some lessons repeated points from earlier ones.
- Hugo B.Sample
The 'rewrite the headline as a boring sentence' exercise is brilliant. I do it automatically now when I read tech news.
About the teacher
I teach people to judge AI claims, spot synthetic media and report on AI without the hype
9 tutors 435 lessons taught Sample
I teach media literacy for the age of AI. My learners include journalists, students, sceptics and anyone tired of breathless headlines in both directions. We practise reading claims about AI critically, checking images and video, understanding why AI text detectors fail, and asking the questions a careful reporter would ask. My background is in newsroom fact checking and training reporters,...
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