The Rise of Social Media and AI & How it is Affecting Society
- storybyteskendall
- Jan 28
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 21
Written By: Alexandra Calzadilla
Article
Jan. 28, 2026
MIAMI — “Question everything.”
These were the words that marked me from The Inside Washington Seminar with the honors college. It has been less than a week and I cannot muster enough words on how eye-opening the experience was for me. I wrote one of my analysis briefs for the seminar on the importance of fact-checking and why we should incorporate it more in our lives, and it made me wonder about the industrialism of our current society.
With the rise of social media and artificial intelligence, political news and information are spread across many different platforms. Before the 1990s, individuals received their information from the news, radio or newspaper. Now there is the great wave of TikTok, Instagram, X, Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest and many more where information is presented at rapid speed. However, even though information can be quick and convenient, that does not mean it is always accurate. During the discussion panel, I agreed with the panelists’ stance that individuals must fact-check information they receive from social media using reliable sources. I knew the dangers that could come from it, and one of its gravest ones was the growing distrust in politics. One example of fake news that spread was the #pizzagate scandal in 2016 involving Hillary Clinton and John Podesta. The Centre for International Governance Innovation stated, “By one false account, in 2016, Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton and her chief of staff, John Podesta, were operating a child sex ring out of a pizza parlour’s basement in Washington, DC” (Jardine). This false rumor spread worldwide and one of its followers, Edgar Welch, traveled to Washington, D.C., and fired shots inside the pizzeria, demanding to see the basement. When people envision “fake news” they think of defamation, but this example shows it could be life or death.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has also impacted social media within the political realm. An article by Global Witness states, “A photo of Donald Trump raising his fist in the air after an assassination attempt against him was edited to add extra fingers to his hand. Apparent missing fingers in a photo of ‘Walz’s for Trump’ led to accusations that the photo was AI-generated” (Judson). How could the average citizen be able to tell the truth from lies? These photos are curated to look realistic. Without the extra fingers, many people would have carried on about their day without second-guessing the information they just received. This uncertainty creates a climate of confusion and chaos.
We live in a technologically advanced world where it can be difficult to see what is real and what isn’t. However, reliable sources are still available that can provide accurate information. Some things that can be done are using independent fact-checking organizations like PoliFact, Associated Press (AP) Fact Check andThe Poynter Institute / International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). Now, it’s important that individuals be highly aware of the information we consume and share. Because anything can be true or false, the practice of fact-checking needs to be applied to everything we see, not just politics.
Works Cited
Berger, Lara Marie, et al. “Debunking ‘Fake News’ on Social Media: Immediate and Short-Term Effects of Fact-Checking and Media Literacy Interventions.” Journal of Public Economics, vol. 245, 2025, p. 105345, ScienceDirect,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004727272500043X. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
Global Witness. “‘AI-Generated’ Is the New ‘Fake News’.” Global Witness, 31 Oct. 2024, https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/ai-generated-is-the-new-fake-news/. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
Jardine, Eric. “Beware Fake News.” Centre for International Governance Innovation, 2025, https://www.cigionline.org/articles/beware-fake-news/. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
Comments