For GRA, media literacy is crucial in AI landscape 

For the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority, raising awareness of artificial intelligence, deepfakes and online misinformation is crucial to ensure a media literate future generation.  

The online world is rapidly progressing leaving regulators grappling with how to navigate this new landscape. 

Over the years, AI has progressed dramatically with the introduction of platforms such as ChatGPT and its proliferation has meant that the use of AI has become mainstream globally. 

But with so much information available online, the GRA has highlighted the need for education and awareness on misinformation and deepfakes. 

GRA Head of Broadcasting and Communications Division Francis Trenado and GRA Broadcasting and Communications Division Regulatory Officer Ibrahim Alba described how media literacy is the way forward. 

Mr Trenado explained a new section of the Communications Act was introduced last year which has given the GRA more powers to promote media literacy. 

Now the GRA is working on using these powers to provide guidance through online resources on its website, school sessions and engaging with organisations and charities. 

The GRA has also engaged with the Youth Service, GibSams, Childline, PossAbilities, and Clubhouse to promote this further. 

The guidance explains how online algorithms work, the effect of influencers, product placements, harmful behaviour and how to fact-check. 

“Just as it's important to be literate, to be able to read and write, the same is true with media,” Mr Trenado said. 

“So we can read and understand what the media is telling us.” 

“With the likes of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news, especially with AI, it gets a bit more tricky.” 

He explained how, when viewing online content, a person should question what they are seeing and where the content came from.  

Mr Trenado said the GRA wants to increase awareness, particularly in schools. 

“AI has changed everything,” he said. 

Mr Trenado said that youngsters are increasingly getting their news from social media platforms. 

The issue here is whether they are reading or listening to legitimate news sources online or disinformation from online sources, some of which may be intentionally attempting to mislead. 

With AI now enabling the easier productions of videos that can even appear to be from legitimate news sources, the task of understanding what is real or not online is increasingly difficult. 

“You're likely to get duped into thinking that something is real that is not,” he said. 

“That's going to be a difficult area to navigate through, because as AI gets better and better, eventually it's going to get to a point where we won't be able to distinguish what's true or not.” 

“And what happens is that people use AI to check whether something is AI.” 

He described how this can be particularly worrying when AI is used for malicious purposes, such as creating a deepfake to harm someone’s reputation. 

He pointed out how the GRA has been holding a media literacy session annually as part of the GBC Summer Camp. 

The sessions began three years ago and Mr Trenado and Mr Alba have found that, over the years, youngsters have become more aware of AI. 

The first year the session was held, Mr Trenado said, the youngsters aged around 10 weren’t aware of AI yet. 

Three years later, when the GRA showed deep fakes videos at the session, the children picked up on facial expressions and how the audio seemed off, and even background inconsistencies. 

Mr Alba said young children are now the “AI Generation” as they are constantly being bombarded with this type of content.  

But he added that children can be more aware than adults.  

“We're talking here about what we need to do and focus on the youth,” he said. 

“And the irony is, I think they're very tech savvy.” 

Mr Trenado and Mr Alba agreed that the older generation now need to be focused on. 

“The scary thing is, AI, when it was originally launched, you needed computers that were powerful,” Mr Trenado said. 

“And now you have them. You can create [AI images] in the moment or just make them on ChatGPT.” 

Mr Alba added that sometimes people do not understand that the content they are viewing could be politically biased, or understand the source which the content is coming from. 

He underscored that the GRA aims to raise awareness of fact-checking, understanding sources and questioning whether there is a political agenda behind what is being viewed. 

The GRA has found that, in some cases, there has been an erosion of trust in the mainstream media, which has in turn channelled people to online sources such as popular podcasts where there is limited fact-checking. 

“How do you again gain the trust of these people who have now given up on the mainstream media?” Mr Trenado said. 

He described how the GRA has spoken to members of the public during their research and found some respondents were distrustful of mainstream media and preferred news from social media sources. 

“When it comes to AI, we’re all vulnerable,” he said. 

“So how can we do more? Awareness, getting all of us working together in partnerships, and spreading the message.” 

Part of this awareness is also to encourage the public to create content responsibly and not share or create misinformation. 

Visit the GRA’s website for online resources on media literacy: www.gra.gi/broadcasting/media-literacy/