Once upon a time, my mother would scold me for believing everything that I saw on the internet and would immediately ask, ‘Are you seriously believing whatever it is showing?’ She would remind me to read the newspaper, follow the news channels, pick up books and stay updated with current affairs. According to her, the internet was useful but not a place that could be trusted with everything it shows.Fast-forward to today, my mother now forwards me reels of vegetables talking and explaining how they should be stored in the fridge. Once, she sent me a video about breaking news with dramatic visuals and a convincing voice-over, only to find out later that it was fake and made-up news. By this time, our family WhatsApp group has become its own news channel, just without an editor. Another day, she forwards something about health warnings and government announcements. Each time, I find myself typing the same response, ‘That’s not real, Maa. It’s AI!’ The irony is hard to miss here as the person who spent years teaching me to question information is now forwarding me questionable information.With AI-generated videos taking over the internet and becoming increasingly convincing, it is getting harder for our parents, especially, to distinguish between real and fake. They grew up in a world where news always came through newspapers, radio, television, and familiar sources. Today, a video can be portrayed like news with the same urgency and only to later discover that it is AI-generated to fool people out there. This is one of the biggest reasons why credibility and fact-checking are more important than ever. Not everyone can distinguish between fake and real videos, but what matters is keeping up with the habit of checking and following reliable news sources – TV, newspapers, and radio. When in doubt about the news, just ask someone who can separate the fact from fake.This is where my mother’s age-old advice rightly fits in – Don’t believe everything you see on the internet. And now, it is time for me to send her credible news sources and reports to keep her WhatsApp newsroom facts in check.– This rant comes from Mehwash Hussain, who has somehow become her mother’s personal fact-checker
