We’ve all seen it.
You’re scrolling social media when something catches your eye: a picture, a video, a well-written post. It sparks interest, pulls at your emotions, or confirms something you already believe.
You react quickly. You like it. You share it. You comment.
But in today’s digital world, that quick reaction deserves a second look.
Before engaging, we have to pause and ask:
Is this real?
Is this actually true?
Because not everything that looks convincing deserves our trust.
Why a Story From LSU Made Me Pause
Recently, students at LSU were accused of using AI to write their papers.
Not because a person watched them cheat. Not because someone caught them copying and pasting.
But because software said their writing looked like AI.
Some students received zeros. Some faced long appeal processes. Some worried about grades, scholarships, and academic records. And here’s the part that matters most:
Even professors acknowledged that AI detection tools are not definitive. They can’t reliably prove whether something was written by a human or a computer.
Let that sink in.
A tool made a claim. People treated it as fact. Real consequences followed. And that’s not just a college problem.
Let's Take a Quick Look at How AI Learns
AI doesn’t think or understand ideas the way humans do. It learns by looking at lots and lots and lots and LOTS of examples and noticing patterns. That’s it.
If you showed a computer thousands of examples of what “school writing” looks like, such as essays, reports, and academic papers, it would start to notice things like sentence structure, word choice, and tone. Many of those examples come from public databases that contain writing done by students, professors, and researchers.
So when a college student writes clearly, formally, and follows the rules they were taught, their work can look similar to the examples AI learned from. That doesn’t mean AI wrote it. It just means the student wrote in a style the computer recognizes.
AI tools don’t know who wrote something. They only guess based on patterns and sometimes those guesses are wrong.
This Isn’t Just About School
The LSU situation is a perfect example of the world we’re living in now.
Every day, we see:
- images that look real but aren’t
- articles that sound factual but lack evidence
- posts confidently claiming things that turn out to be wrong
Sometimes the issue isn’t fake content; it’s unquestioned confidence.
When we stop asking “Is this real?” and start assuming tools always know best, things get messy fast.
So What Do We Do?
This series isn’t about:
- fearing AI
- banning technology
- turning everyone into an internet detective
It is about learning how to:
- pause before reacting
- ask better questions
- spot red flags early
- and protect ourselves (and our kids, students, and sanity)
Because whether it’s a paper, a picture, or a viral post, claims involving AI still need human judgment.
What’s Coming Next
Over the next few short posts, we’ll cover:
- how to spot AI images quickly
- why screenshots aren’t sources
- how confident writing can still be wrong
- what teachers, students, and parents should know
- and how to slow down without checking out
Short reads. No tech jargon. No panic.
Just practical ways to navigate a very loud internet.
👉 First up: the one question to ask before you share anything online.
Before You Share, Ask This One Thing
If a post makes you feel:
- angry
- scared
- shocked
- instantly validated
Before you share anything online, ask yourself one simple question:
What’s making me want to react to this?
If the answer is emotion, anger, fear, shock, or instant validation, take a pause. That emotional pull is often the hook.
Content that triggers big feelings spreads faster, especially AI-generated or misleading posts. When something makes you feel like you have to react, share, or comment immediately, it’s usually designed that way.
Phrases like “Share this before it’s deleted” or “They don’t want you to see this” aren’t warnings. They’re pressure tactics.
Here’s the good news:
You don’t need to decide if something is real right away.
You don’t need to have an opinion instantly.
You’re allowed to slow down.
A simple rule of thumb:
If it needs you to react right now, it probably needs scrutiny.
Take a breath. Look closer. Ask a question.
👉 Next up: how to spot AI images quickly, without being a tech expert.
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