AI: the two letters that invade news headlines, shape every tech conversation, and whose digital generations flood our feeds with digital generations we can barely distinguish from reality. The technology now looms over us, dauntingly overdeveloped, and guided by motives we can’t quite trust. It’s hard not to question a phenomena this pervasive, built primarily on leeching off of human-made content.

Besides the obvious ethical concern of copyright infringement, generative technology blurs the line between truth and fabrication, fueling fears of manipulation and growing chaos. Now, more than ever, digital literacy isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity we can’t afford to skimp on.

RECOGNIZING AI WHEN YOU SEE, HEAR, OR READ IT-

The emergence of AI on our feeds was at first easily noticeable, with tacky and exaggerated visual overtones and redundant writing style. Now, scrolling through social media, it’s hard to avoid the flood of AI slop — much of which has become harder to identify as such. But with the speed at which the technology is advancing, relying on pure discernment soon enough won’t cut it much longer — we’re already starting to fall for it. While platforms like OpenAI’s Sora and Meta AI offer contained spaces for AI-generated videos, users can still upload content generated by external AI tools with no requirement to disclose its origin unless the content is generated through the platform itself.

#1- IMAGES AND VIDEOS:

Deep deception is often visual — as the famous saying goes: “seeing is believing.” When the truth evades our eyes, we’ve entered tricky territory. Distinguishing an AI-generated image or video from an authentic one can prove the hardest challenge, even for experienced professionals.

Visual Cues: The basic elements to look out for are anatomical errors such as hands with too many fingers, unnatural body movements and facial expressions, and glitches during motion. Context clues are also crucial — focusing on the background of an image or video and the peripheral surroundings usually exposes inconsistencies. Spotting illegible text is also a telltale sign of AI use. Be wary of uncanny perfection: things like overly polished hair or skin, and whether the overall appearance matches the context and setting of the image or video.

#2- TEXT:

Written content generated by AI similarly proves difficult to AI-proof, given language’s natural variety of tone, style, wording, and structure. With AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, offloading writing tasks has never been easier — but it comes at the cost of everyone sounding the same. While it’s harder to hide truths in written word, the prevalence of unoriginal text in the digital world undermines the power of language and limits our capacity for producing it.

There are obvious giveaways for AI-tampered texts: Overuse of the characteristic em-dash and certain emojis, for starters. According to Scribbr, text generated by LLMs usually has predictable word patterns and sentences that are short with uncomplicated structures. Generic phrasing, overly polite and broad language, and logical errors are also things to take note of.

#3- AUDIO:

People’s voices are increasingly vulnerable to being cloned and exploited, especially those of politicians or influential public figures. Audio deception can be the most subtle of all, so recognizing when you’re listening to an AI-generated voice is essential. The Global Investigative Journalism Network highlights unnatural pacing, flawless pronunciation, robotic inflection, lack of background noise, and terminology uncharacteristic of the person as major red flags — for example, Jake Paul cannot actually speak Arabic perfectly. Synthetic voices can be scarily accurate, but their mechanical inflections can easily give them away if you’re listening for them.

ALGORITHMS, MISINFORMATION, AND DISINFORMATION-

Spotting fake news has always been a prevalent issue in the online world, especially with the rise of clickbait and ad-driven media. Engagement is social media’s beating heart, propelling many to skew information and exploit people’s attention. AI, unfortunately, seems to be taking after us with new studies revealing that the technology has no moral compass when it comes to achieving a certain end-goal. Proof that AI is programmed to win human attention makes social media a breeding ground for manipulation.

The pervasiveness of AI has taken over not only how content is created but also what content is being pushed to the forefront of our digital feeds. Social media now deeply integrates AI to help with algorithms, user engagement, and data interpretation. As of 2025, the market for AI in social media sits at USD 2.69 bn, with projections to reach almost USD 10 bn by 2030. NewsGuard, a platform that rates the reliability of online sources, found, by the first half of 2025, over 1,200 AI-generated news and information sites that are actively publishing fake news in 16 languages with no human oversight by the first half of 2025.

While fake news doesn’t originate from AI alone, the advent of this artificial force certainly amplifies its presence, making it spread faster and weigh heavier. According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, fears that generative AI is fuel to the fire for fake news are “overblown.” People still stick to credible and mainstream outlets to get their news, while those who fall for AI-charged mis- or dis-information already hold similar opinions to said fake claims.

Still, the dangers are there — gullible or not — and the question stands: How do we combat fake news fueled by AI?

#1- It all starts with the algorithm. Your online engagement is key. Not sharing or interacting with posts that promote fake news is a small yet impactful step. The algorithm learns what sticks and what doesn’t, whether prompted by humans or by AI. The less people engage with misinformation, the less it shows up in our social media feedback loops and the less AI sees a demand for it.

#2- Take a moment and doubt. Everything you see online is designed to grab your attention and elicit a reaction. With that in mind, if seeing an outrageous headline or an absurd video strikes a chord, it’s best to ask yourself: Why did the source share this? Choose not to engage not only with the share button, but also with your psyche’s susceptibility to self-affirming information. In some cases, confronting fake news will force you to learn something that challenges what you believe — which leads us to the next point.

#3- Be your own detective. Being a part of the current internet landscape requires a good deal of active skepticism and critical thinking. It’s always worth double checking the source of what you see online, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the content sharer. A quick look through multiple credible news sites usually does the trick. Using reverse image search and looking elsewhere for the same picture can help verify a photo.

#4- Use detection tools. When all else fails, AI detection tools and fact-checking sites can be helpful. Accuracy rates for popular AI detection tools currently range from 65% to 85%, according to Scribbr. Unfortunately, detection can always be evaded with pattern recognition, which means these tools aren’t the silver bullet to combating misleading generative AI. Still, they can be helpful when it comes to identifying most AI slop.

BE ONE STEP AHEAD-

It’s important not to fall prey to the doomscrolling lure, becoming passive reactors to what we see. The power lies in the users’ hands if we understand how the algorithm operates and work on consciously derailing its feedback loops. Letting your subconscious steer your online behavior most often leads to an echo chamber — an environment that feeds into one set of opinions and views.

How can you regain control over your feed? Once you’re successfully aware of the positive feedback loop that social media operates on, you can start scrolling more strategically. Muting accounts, platforms, and words that often promote AI-generated content and fake news is one step to cleansing your feed. Don’t underestimate the “Not Interested” button because it signals to the algorithm what you want to see less of. Clearing your history and app cache is also a simple way to break tight loops and reset your past activity patterns.

Diversify the content you’re exposed to. Don’t fall into the trap of letting your feed get too personalized. To avoid an echo chamber, always seek out platforms with different views and be selective with your engagement so as to make space for a broader mix of content on your feed, not just the one you strongly identify with.

Tags: