Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

I'm Mr. Winterbotham, and today, we're gonna be looking at fake news in a lesson called The Problem With Fake News.

We're gonna be finding out what fake news is, the different types that there are, and why that can be a problem for everyone, both young people and adults.

I'm really excited to do this lesson with you, and I can't wait to get going.

So The Problem With Fake News.

By the end of this lesson, you can say, "I can describe what fake news is and why it exists," and I'm really looking forward to teaching you everything you need to know to get that outcome.

But first, our ground rules.

So number one, listen to others.

Number two, don't judge others.

Don't judge what they're saying.

Keep an open mind.

Number three, respect each other's privacy.

Don't reveal things that other people might not want you to share.

Don't share things about yourself unless it's a really good idea to do that.

And lastly, choose your level of participation.

So choose how much you want to join in, how much you want to share.

We've got lots of keywords today.

Number one is fake news.

That is information that is not true, but might look real.

Number two, we've got motivation, the reason why someone does something.

Number three, persuade.

That means to change someone's mind.

Number four, manipulation.

That means influencing someone's emotions to make them do something.

And finally, we've got clickbait.

That is an image or video created to tempt you to click on it.

Some of these words might be new to you, but by the end of the lesson, I think you'll understand what they all mean.

Let's go.

Here are the three parts to our lesson.

We've got what is fake news, what is clickbait, and why do people create fake news.

We're gonna start with what is fake news.

Let's go.

So fake news, sadly, is common on the internet.

It's everywhere.

Izzy asks "Have you ever seen fake news online?" It can be words, pictures, or videos, and it can be hard to tell what is real and what is fake.

That's one of the reasons why fake news is such a problem.

Sometimes fake news is made by people, real people, and sometimes it is created by computers using artificial intelligence, sometimes called AI.

You might have heard of that before.

Now, artificial intelligence or AI is used by really powerful computers.

It can do many things that humans can do, such as write and create artwork.

It's getting better and better all the time.

Now, can you remember what does AI stand for? Is it artistic intelligence, artificial images, or artificial intelligence? A, B, or C? What do you think? 3, 2, 1.

Here's the answer! It is artificial intelligence.

Did you get it right? I hope so.

Now, fake images are often made by artificial intelligence, which can make realistic-looking pictures of anything in the world, anything that you can imagine.

Can you tell a real image from a fake one? That's a great question from Izzy there.

Do you think you could tell? Hmm.

Well, here's three images.

Which image do you think is fake? Do you think A, B, or C are fake? Have you decided? Here's the answer.

They're all fake.

So every single one of these images was created by artificial intelligence, by a very powerful computer.

So even though they're fake, it can be very hard to tell if something is real or not.

But we can use some clues to help us.

So what clues do we have that these images are not real? Have a look closely, and decide what you think.

Give you a few seconds to decide your answer.

What clues have we got? Okay, here are the ones that I found.

So number one, this image uses strange colours.

So the colours on the first image are a little bit strange, or those pinks and purples.

That doesn't look like the real colour of an elephant.

The second one, I thought looked very realistic.

I couldn't really tell that it was fake, other than maybe it was a bit unlikely that an elephant might be in the same room as a piano, and the elephant is a little bit small perhaps.

Then, the final one, the elephant has human hands and feet, so that one is a little bit easier to tell.

Also, there is only half a piano.

The other half has just disappeared, so that one's a bit easier.

So you can see some are easy to spot.

Some are almost impossible to spot.

Some images are so realistic that we cannot tell if they're fake.

Sometimes we're going to need to ask an adult, or do some research ourself to check whether something's real or not.

So who could help us if we think something might be fake? Who could help us? What do you think? If you've got a partner, maybe whisper it to them.

Here's the answer.

We could ask parents or carers, adults in school, or trusted adults in our family.

So AI images can be lots of things.

Can you tick the answers that you think are correct? We've got A, AI images can be realistic, B, they can be unbelievable, and C, they can be easily spotted.

Which of these is true? Have a think.

The answer is A and B.

AI images can be realistic, and they can be unbelievable, but they cannot be easily spotted.

So we've got our practise task to do now.

How can we guess that this image is not real? Find as many clues as you can that tell us that this is an AI image, this is a fake image.

If you have the picture printed out, you could label it.

Try and think of as many clues as you can as to why this might not be real.

Pause the video if you need.

Okay, here are the answers.

So if we look on top of the piano, there is a toy.

It looks strange, and it's only got one ear.

So that's a bit of a clue.

If you look at the elephant's skin, it's a mixture of an elephant and a zebra.

So that maybe isn't real.

Also, if you think about the average floor in someone's house, that floor might break if an elephant stood on it, 'cause they're very heavy, but the floor doesn't seem to have been harmed at all.

So these things make me think perhaps it's not real.

Okay, next section.

We're gonna look at the question, what is clickbait? Let's find out.

So most websites and apps make money from advertising, every single time you visit a new page.

So they want you to stay on their website or app as long as possible because each time you click or tap, they make a tiny little bit more money.

That's how a lot of things on the internet work.

And clickbait is something online that tries to make you click or tap on these links.

And to understand what clickbait means, well, we can break it down, because the word is made of two smaller words put together.

So we've got the word click, to press or tap something on a device, and we've got the words bait, to tempt someone or something.

So we put them together, clickbait.

We're tempting someone to press or tap.

And Izzy's reminding us a good way of remembering this, which is that people use bait when they go fishing to tempt fish to bite the hook.

So there's a good way of remembering what clickbait means.

Which is the correct definition of clickbait? Have a little think.

Is it A, to change someone's mind? Is it B, something online that tries to make you click or tap on links? Or is it C, the reason why somebody does something? Have a think.

Is it A, B, or C? Are you ready? The answer is B.

Clickbait is something online that tries to make you click or tap on links.

Now, clickbait is normally a picture or some writing that makes you want to find out more by clicking on it.

It tries to make you curious about something, and to tempt you, a clickbait creator, the author, the person who makes it, they might use surprising stories, strange pictures, or curious headlines.

Let's go into that in more detail.

So number one, surprising stories.

We've got an example here, and it says "You'll never believe what happened next.

." So this is an example of a story where someone reads the first line, and they can't wait to find out more.

So if you read that headline, "You'll never believe what happened next.

," you might want to know more.

You might think "Well, if I can't believe it, "it must be amazing," and then you might click on it to try and find out what the rest of the story is.

It's very easy to be tempted by an interesting story.

Number two, strange pictures.

So here, we've got something that says, "The elephant who can play the piano!," and then we've got that strange artificial intelligence image that we looked at earlier.

And if I saw that, I might think, ooh, that's an interesting image.

I wonder if that's real or not.

I wonder what's going on in that.

I wonder if there really is an elephant who can play the piano.

So that strange picture might tempt me to click on it.

Number three, curious headlines.

So a headline, that's the title at the start of an article in either a newspaper or on a website, and this curious headline is "Who will be in the semi-finals?" So maybe in your favourite sport, there's a competition, and you might think that you're about to find out who's gonna be in that competition.

Now, it could be a real website where you actually find out, or it could be a fake website.

We don't know.

It depends what it is.

And when you click on things, you might get taken to somewhere you're not expecting.

So why might someone create clickbait online? We've got three options here.

Which ones do you think are correct? A, someone might create clickbait online to help you learn, B, to make you stay on their website longer, or C, to help you understand the news.

Why do you think someone might create clickbait? Have a think.

If you're sitting near someone, maybe whisper them the answer.

And here's my answer.

3, 2, 1.

It's B.

People create clickbait online to make you stay on their website or their app for longer.

Did you get it right? If you didn't get it right, hopefully you understand the correct answer now.

So Task B, this is our practise task now, can you answer these questions using sentences, or you can write the answer as a list.

Number one, what is the definition of clickbait? And number two, what tactics might someone try to keep you on their page? So pause the video if you need to.

Take some time, and see if you can write your sentences or a list to answer these questions.

Off you go.

Okay, it's time for some feedback.

This is what I thought would be a good answer.

So number one, what is the definition of clickbait? Well, clickbait is an image or video created to tempt you to click on it.

And number two, what tactics might someone try to keep you on their page? They might use surprising stories, strange pictures, or curious headlines.

Did you get them right? I hope so! Okay, now we're on to our final, the final part of our lesson, and it says "Why do people create fake news?" Let's find out.

So fake news is made to trick people.

Izzy says "Why might someone want to trick us?" So what is their motivation? What's the reason why they do it? So there are many different motivations why a person might have to trick us using fake news.

Let's find out a little bit more about that.

So number one, to make money, number two, to persuade people, number three, to manipulate someone, number four, to just make a joke, and number five, because they enjoy tricking people.

So that's our list, but we're gonna go into each one in more detail.

Let's find out about number one.

To make money.

So people can make money by lying about how good something is.

For example, if you buy my app, it will help you to get rich quick.

Now, that's unlikely to be true, as good as it sounds.

And money often motivates people to do things on the internet.

For example, most apps and websites make money from adverts.

So the more time you spend on their website, the more money they make.

They might use fake news to try and get you to stay on their website for longer than perhaps you want to.

Number two, to persuade people.

Fake news is sometimes created to persuade people that something is true, even though it's not.

They might want you to change your mind, or make you want to do something that they want.

Here's an example of something that some people believe is true online.

It says "Believe me, the Earth is flat!" So some people believe that the Earth is flat when it's actually a sphere.

And online, some people try and persuade others that their belief is true.

Number three, to manipulate someone.

So manipulation means influencing someone's emotions to make them do something.

As an example, you might make someone feel bad for not owning something, so they want to buy it.

Here's an example in the picture.

Everyone is buying this amazing new thing.

Why aren't you? That's an example of someone using manipulation to try and make someone else buy something.

Number four, making jokes.

So sometimes people are just trying to be funny and make other people laugh.

They might make a fake post not to trick anyone really, just 'cause they think it can be funny, and here's a picture made using artificial intelligence, and it says, "It turns out pigs can fly!" Number five, because they enjoy tricking people.

So some people, sadly, like to trick others 'cause it makes them feel clever and powerful, even though it's not really.

Here's an example.

I'll make everyone fall for my trick! (Mr. Winterbotham villainously laughs) So it's annoying that some people enjoy tricking others, but it can be a motivation.

So fake news is normally a mixture of real and fake information.

This can make it hard to spot that it's not true.

And Izzy points out just because some parts are real, it doesn't make everything on the page true.

We've got an example of a post, which is a mixture of true and not true, of real and fake.

Let's see if you could spot it.

Which parts of this post are true, and which parts are fake? Have a look through.

I'll read it out for you as well to help.

It says "Scientists discover that pigs have four legs, "two eyes, two ears, and two wings." So some parts of that sentence are true, and some of them are fake.

Okay, you ready for the answers? Here we come.

So the true parts are pigs have four legs, pigs have two eyes, pigs have two ears, but the fake bit is pig have wings.

Because they really don't.

Although, that would be really funny.

Okay, we've got another check for you now, and it says "Why might someone create fake news? "What is their motivation?" Two are done for you, but I'd like you to find the rest.

So the two that are done are number four, to make a joke, and number five, because they enjoy tricking people.

Can you remember what the other three points are? Have a think.

Maybe ask someone else if you're not sure.

Okay, then.

It's time for my answer.

The answer is number one, to make money, number two, to persuade people, and number three, to manipulate someone.

I hope you got it right.

And now it's time for our final practise task, to design our own fake news.

I want you to think about why you might want to trick someone, what your motivation could be, even if it's just pretend, and I want you to try and make your post as realistic as possible.

Izzy's got some pointers for us.

She says "It could be a social media post, "a news article, or a video," if you're able to make a video.

And here are the questions to break it down a little bit more.

Number one, what is your motivation? Number two, which part is fake? And number three, which part is real? And the reason we've got those questions are is that fake news is often a mixture of real and fake.

So if people really want to trick you, they will quite often mix in real things and fake things.

Okay, now you can do whatever you like, but I'm gonna show you my example just to give you a bit of motivation and to inspire you.

Okay, so here's my fake news article, and it says, "We all know that working hard "and getting new skills are the best way to earn more.

"But not everyone knows how to get rich quick.

"Find out the secrets "to making more money than you can imagine.

"Just download this app for 8 pounds 99, "and soon the money will be flowing into your bank account." So if you saw that, would you think that's real or fake? I made it up, so I can tell you that it's fake for sure.

And here are my answers.

Number one, what is your motivation? Well, I wanted to persuade people to buy my app because the more people buy it, the more money I can make.

Which part is fake? Well, an app cannot make anyone rich quickly.

That part is a lie.

There's just no app in the world that could do that.

Now, but I did put in some real parts.

So for number three, which part is real, I put working hard at getting new skills are good ways to earn more money, but you would need to do this for a long time to get rich.

So I've put that there's a little bit of truth in there, as well as a lie.

So to summarise, fake news is hard to spot.

People make fake news because of their own motivations, such as making money, tricking you, persuading you of something, or making a joke.

Websites and apps make more money if more people visit their site, and stay on it for longer, and we should ask for help if we think something might be fake.

Thank you so much for taking part in this lesson.

Thank you for listening, and I hope to see you again soon.

Bye.