The Life Starter
Sign up
All courses/Life

Course 147 · Life course 34

Check Manipulated Images and Synthetic Media

Trace media to its context, assess suspicious cues carefully, and decide what is safe to treat as fact.

Before you start

Read short fictional posts and evidence cards. All media are supplied as text descriptions; no account, upload, reverse-image tool, or detector is required.

See everything you’ll need

Practice materials and a worked example · Free download. Download the starter pack

What you’ll leave with

A media-verification packet with a claim map, provenance trail, cue log, independent-channel check, claim-specific verdicts, and a share-or-hold note.

Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.

Your project

Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.

Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.

  1. Get your materialsDownload practice filesStart with the supplied materials, follow the lessons, and compare your work with the annotated example.
  2. Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
  3. Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Optional course overview

Watch an introduction.

This overview from Center for Media Engagement introduces ideas you’ll practice in the lessons.

Watch directly on YouTube
Center for Media EngagementElection Misinformation Symposium: Fighting Misinfo Through Fact-checking and Deepfake DetectionYouTube
Course handbook

Know the route before you begin.

Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.

Who this is for

For learners 14+ exploring practical skills for school, work, and everyday life.

Prepare before lesson one
  • Read short fictional posts and evidence cards. All media are supplied as text descriptions; no account, upload, reverse-image tool, or detector is required.
  • Use the time shown for each lesson; it includes the supplied practice, changed-input work, and applied questions. Keep the six lesson outputs for the final project. Optional videos, setup, and any optional real-world extension take extra time.
Your final project

Finish with proof you can use.

A media-verification packet with a claim map, provenance trail, cue log, independent-channel check, claim-specific verdicts, and a share-or-hold note.

Save a project record in My Proof
See project checklist and review criteria

Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.

What to include

  • Extract the event, place, time, and consequence claims.
  • Trace the fictional media history and separate reposts from independent sources.
  • Record cues with alternative explanations and detector limits.
  • Verify the request through a separately established channel.
  • Write claim-specific verdicts and a private sharing decision.

Review and revise

Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.

  • Observations remain separate from inferred causes.
  • Source history and independent evidence are accurately traced.
  • Verdicts distinguish contradicted claims from unknown production methods.
  • The final action avoids unsupported claims and unnecessary amplification.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas

The rules behind the steps.

01

Split the claim

Check the media’s origin and each caption claim separately.

02

Treat cues as leads

An oddity or detector score prompts investigation rather than proving a verdict.

03

Choose proportionate action

Hold unsupported claims and use verified notices for practical decisions.

What do these words mean?
Key words

Key terms worth knowing.

Provenance
The origin and history of a piece of content.
Synthetic media
Media generated or altered using computational methods, including AI.
Corroboration
Independent evidence supporting a claim.
Artifact
A visible or audible irregularity that may result from processing.
Unverified
Not established by the available evidence.
Your route

6 lessons.
One useful project.

Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.

  1. 1
    Up next

    Separate media from its caption

    Extract the exact claim attached to an image or clip.

  2. 2
    20 min

    Trace an image to earlier context

    Use a supplied search trail to find provenance and detect recycled context.

  3. 3
    21 min

    Inspect cues without overconfidence

    Record suspicious visual or audio cues without treating them as proof.

  4. 4
    19 min

    Verify a voice or video request

    Check a claimed speaker or request through an independent channel.

  5. 5
    21 min

    Write a proportionate media verdict

    Use evidence labels that match what is actually established.

  6. 6
    27 min

    Make a share-or-hold decision

    Build a verification note and choose a proportionate sharing action.

Use the tools

Tools to help you practice.

See all tools
ZIP · practice files

Check Manipulated Images and Synthetic Media practice files

Start with the supplied materials, follow the lessons, and compare your work with the annotated example.

Text worksheet

Your course project worksheet

A downloadable text worksheet with each lesson’s working output, space for your answers, and the shared final-project checklist. Save your own copy.

Source transparency

Sources and further study.

Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.

MIT Media Lab: Detect DeepFakes
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12

Inspected the project overview, limits of visual detection, and linked symposium video.

Access: Public page or PDF inspected without payment or institutional sign-in on September 12, 2026. Optional external accounts are unnecessary for this course.

Reuse: Link and original paraphrase only. Public access does not grant blanket reuse; no provider text, figures, or exercises are reproduced.

Kamali and colleagues: How to Distinguish AI-Generated Images from Authentic Photographs
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12

Inspected the primary preprint abstract: artifact categories, absent artifacts, and difficulty of provenance without context.

Access: Public page or PDF inspected without payment or institutional sign-in on September 12, 2026. Optional external accounts are unnecessary for this course.

Reuse: Link and original paraphrase only. Public access does not grant blanket reuse; no provider text, figures, or exercises are reproduced.

Stanford: Digital Literacy in the Age of AI
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12

Inspected lateral reading, upstream checking, reverse-image searching, and the distinction between existing interventions and ongoing AI research.

Access: Public page or PDF inspected without payment or institutional sign-in on September 12, 2026. Optional external accounts are unnecessary for this course.

Reuse: Link and original paraphrase only. Public access does not grant blanket reuse; no provider text, figures, or exercises are reproduced.

Election Misinformation Symposium: Fighting Misinfo Through Fact-checking and Deepfake Detection
Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-12

Watch URL discovered through web search or an inspected official page; YouTube oEmbed returned this exact title and channel. Metadata verified; full playback and captions were not tested.

Access: Public YouTube metadata returned without sign-in on September 12, 2026. The video is optional; playback and caption availability were not tested.

Reuse: Link and original paraphrase only. Public access does not grant blanket reuse; no provider text, figures, or exercises are reproduced.

Ready when you are

Start with the first useful move.

You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.

Start lesson one