The critical thinking strategies university students use when dealing with Fake News produced by Artificial Intelligence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5944/educxx1.39811Keywords:
fake news, artificial intelligence, critical thinking, social networks, university studentsAbstract
The arrival of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the digital arena has increased the amount of fake
news (FN) circulating on social networks (SNs), where young people are at particular risk
of being deceived and manipulated. The study objectives were: 1) to analyse the criticalthinking
strategies that university students (N=543) activate when dealing with FN; 2) to
determine how much education and training they have been given for detecting FN; and 3)
to describe the educational content that they believe to be most important for identifying
FN. The methodology was empirical and non-experimental. The study was descriptive,
exploratory, and comparative. A validated questionnaire (α=0.895) with 56 items was used to
ascertain how much education they had received for detecting FN and to identify the criticalthinking
strategies (cognitive, personal-attitudinal, logical-argumentative, communicativeexpressive,
and ethical) they activated when dealing with FN. The results indicated that
76.6% reported having little or no education in this regard. The majority understood what
FN with the aim of manipulation was, although around 40% reported not being aware of
having received any. They did not habitually test the information they received against
reliable sources nor check where it came from or who wrote it. Nonetheless, they did detect
clickbait. The strategies they used did not always ensure that they determined the truth
of the news stories they received, making them more vulnerable. They called for specific
education and described the training content they would prioritize to understand how
FN is created and to critically analyse its form and content, avoiding being manipulated.
Finally, it is important to consider the role of generative AI in altering “evidence”, limiting the
audience’s ability to determine the truth of any information they receive, potentially leading
to widespread scepticism.
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