We Know We’re Being Manipulated. AI—Now What?
Source: LinkedIn
Author: Sydney Sullivan
Original source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/we-know-were-being-manipulated-ainow-what-nick-potkalitsky-phd-npwie
Source type: essay
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Summary
This piece responds to anxiety over Google’s Veo 3 and hyper-realistic AI video by arguing that skepticism alone is insufficient. The author situates deepfake fears within a longer crisis of media mistrust and argues that users need critical media literacy, emotional regulation, intentional consumption, community discussion, and concrete action. Rather than retreating from digital life or collapsing into cynicism, educators and citizens should turn skepticism into curiosity, investigation, and local/community practices. The article links digital literacy with well-being, emphasizing that students are often not apathetic but exhausted by misinformation, trauma, and pressure to respond perfectly online.
Big ideas
- Students need to check AI answers against real evidence
- AI-era media literacy needs resilience, not just fact-checking
Claims
- AI-era media literacy needs emotional resilience too
- AI-assisted inquiry should ground claims in evidence
Key evidence and examples
- Google Veo 3 is used as a catalyst for renewed concern about deepfakes and synthetic media.
- The article places AI video anxiety in a longer decline of trust in journalism and media institutions.
- Practical tools include cognitive reappraisal, intentional consumption, community check-ins, reverse image search, workshops, and “fact-check Friday.”
Pull quotes
Beyond skepticism
Social media users have been stopping at skepticism. And if we stop at skepticism, we stay in survival mode. We know we’re being manipulated, but too often that knowledge paralyzes us rather than mobilizes us.
Survival skills
In a world where even reality can be deepfaked, critical thinking and emotional clarity are no longer just nice to have—they’re survival skills.
Do something intentionally
The point isn’t to do everything. The point is to do something. Not performatively. Not perfectly. But intentionally and in community.
Education relevance
Strong relevance for media literacy, digital citizenship, AI deepfake education, student well-being, misinformation, civic education, and classroom discussion of synthetic media.
Durability note
The Veo 3 reference is time-bound, but the civic and media-literacy lesson is durable: skepticism about synthetic media has to turn into intentional practice and community action.