On Second Thought: Digital Media Literacy & Generative AI
Can an AI-powered chatbot help build a generation of critical thinkers? This project explores how interactive experiences can augment media literacy education.
Published Mar 11, 2024
Community Impact: Developing Critical Thinkers in the Age of Generative AI
"On Second Thought" aims to have a positive impact on our community by providing individuals with the tools to discern truth, or the lack of it, in an increasingly complex media landscape. By engaging with AI-generated scenarios and learning to spot misinformation, users will develop critical thinking habits they can apply in their daily lives.
Potential Benefits
- Reduced susceptibility to manipulation: Understanding common tactics used in misinformation will make individuals less likely to be misled by biased news, social media, or persuasive advertising.
- Informed decision-making: Critical thinking skills encourage people to research thoroughly and consider multiple perspectives before forming opinions, making them better-informed citizens.
- Fostering healthy skepticism: "On Second Thought" promotes a healthy dose of skepticism, helping people question information without becoming overly cynical.
Real-World Application & Encouraging Adoption
This project's primary target is students and educators. I envision classroom integrations, with "On Second Thought" serving as a supplement to media literacy lessons. Additionally, a public-facing version could engage adults and foster critical conversations within families and groups. To encourage adoption, I'd focus on:
- Partnerships with local schools and libraries
- Social media promotion highlighting the interactive and engaging nature of the experience
Alternative Development with Amazon Bedrock & AWS Services
Without PartyRock, I'd use AWS to build a serverless architecture for my project. Here's a breakdown:
- Backend Logic: Lambda functions would handle scenario generation, branching logic based on user input, and feedback provision.
- Data Storage: DynamoDB would store user progress and scenario content for retrieval.
- Front-End: A React would be used to create the user interface & Amazon Lex to implement the chatbot.
- Natural Language Processing: Comprehend could be used for sentiment analysis or to identify potential biases in generated text.
Additional Considerations
Using Bedrock & various AWS services would offer greater scalability if the project were to expand significantly. I would also explore integrating with other services like Rekognition for image analysis within scenarios.
Check out the project here: On Second Thought