How Do We Know Who To Trust?

You are here and able to read this chapter because your earliest ancestors developed the knack for being able to detect when someone was lying to them. They were able to recognize when something felt off about the person they were speaking to. What was it? Maybe it was the way the smile on a speaker’s face did not seem to reach their eyes. A real smile moves many muscles in the face, while a false smile tends to only move the lips. Maybe it was the way they spoke so smoothly—too smoothly—as if what they were saying was rehearsed rather than spontaneous. Whatever the reasons, your ancestors recognized the potential dangers this person posed and thus were more likely to avoid a possible threat to their safety and survive long enough to pass on their genes to their descendants. And here you are: the product of people who were smart enough to know when they were being lied to because your ancestors knew how to read body language and were able to pick up on the numerous physical and verbal clues of someone who should not be trusted.

But how do we know if someone is lying to us when all we have are words on a page with no other clues to go by? For hundreds of years printed material evolved in ways to answer this question. There were publishing houses who earned the trust of readers because they employed many people to do things like fact-checking, editing, proof-reading, etc.

Digital media is different. There need not be gatekeepers between a content-creator and an audience. The good news is that anyone can now publish, allowing us access to vast amounts of raw data, knowledge that is both wide and deep, and varying perspectives that would have never seen the light of day if not for digital forms of media. We have more information available to us than at any previous time in human history. 

The bad news is…anyone can now publish, and it can be difficult to know whether or not a source is reliable. How do we know if the author of a website really has a Ph.D. on the subject they are discussing? How do we know if the photograph we see was manipulated to deceive our eyes? How can we know if the video we are watching has been run through an artificial intelligence algorithm to make it look and sound as if an individual is saying something that they have never uttered? 

This chapter is designed to give you some tools to help you navigate the rapidly changing environment in which reading, writing, and research now take place. It is broken up into five sections: (1) general guidelines, (2) photo-shopping and deepfakes, (3) artificial intelligence, (4) plagiarism, and (5) AI and plagiarism.

There is nothing wrong with trust. Trust is a good thing—but make sure that those in whom you place your trust are truly worthy of what you are giving them.  

Artificial Intelligence

According to McKinsey and Company, artificial intelligence is “a machine’s ability to perform …cognitive functions we usually associate with human minds.”  The article “What is AI?” gives readers an overview of the history of AI (a concept introduced by Alan Turning in the 1950s that has roots in earlier ideas about robotics), an explanation of how artificial intelligence works (through a style of operation called “deep learning”), and the benefits and risks associated with this still-developing technology.  

While the use of artificial intelligence in research and writing leads to a number of fascinating—and, at times, unsettling—ethical questions, other ethical issues regarding research and writing are clearer and more easily understood, with criteria that has a long history. The issue of plagiarism may seem daunting at first, but once you know what it is and how to avoid it, you will be well on your way to using the sources you have analyzed thus far with integrity and confidence.  

Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at CAC, and the Student Code of Conduct require you to be honest in all your academic course work. Each student is obligated to know the rules that preserve academic integrity and abide by them. This includes learning and following the rules associated with specific classes, exams, and/or course assignments. Ignorance of these rules is not a defense to the charge of violating the Student Code of Conduct Policy. CAC tracks incidents that violate the Academic Integrity policy.

Definitions

The CAC Student Handbook defines cheating as “the use or attempted use of information, academic work, research or property of another as one’s own. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, sharing knowledge during an examination, or the willful disobedience of testing rules” (2). Additionally, CAC tracks incidents that violate the Academic Integrity policy.

Plagiarism originates from the Latin word, plagiarius (‘kidnapper’). In an intellectual sense, plagiarism means the abduction of someone else’s words, ideas, or thoughts.

The Modern Language Association provides the following discussion on plagiarism in the MLA Handbook, Eighth Edition:

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines plagiarizing as committing “literary theft.” Plagiarism is presenting another person’s ideas, information, expressions, or entire work as one’s own. It is thus a kind of fraud: deceiving others to gain something of value. While plagiarism only sometimes has legal repercussions (e.g., when it involves copyright infringement—violating an author’s exclusive legal right to publication), it is always a serious moral and ethical offense. (MLA 6-7)

Simply put, plagiarism is the uncredited use (both intentional and unintentional) of the words, ideas, or thoughts of another.

Generally, there are two reasons individuals are tempted to commit plagiarism:

1. Lack of confidence in own ideas, voice, and/or writing abilities.
2. Lack of interest in a subject or writing task.
3. Poor time management.

To maintain integrity, make intentional choices when you integrate sources into your writing, use attributions to indicate when you include the words, ideas, or thoughts of another, and properly cite those sources.

Strategies to Avoid Plagiarism

• Make your ideas the driving force behind your writing.

• Establish authorial voice.

• Keep detailed research notes and build an annotated bibliography as you research. Better to have a source and not need it than need a source and not have it.

• When in doubt, cite. You will not be penalized for citing. The same cannot be said for failing to cite.

• Use signal phrases.

• Utilize resources:

• • This textbook.

• • Your instructor.

• • Writing tutors.

• • Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL). 

It is your instructor’s responsibility to teach you why and how to integrate other voices into your conversations and guide you in developing skills of attribution and citation; the next section of this chapter is devoted to these skills too. It is your responsibility to maintain integrity by refraining from acts of intentional plagiarism and avoiding instances of unintentional plagiarism. Remember, your instructors do not expect your writing voice to sound like that of scholarly sources. They expect writing that is appropriate for the course level in which you are working. To maintain integrity, make intentional choices when you integrate sources into your writing, use attributions to indicate when you include the words, ideas, or thoughts of another, and properly cite those sources.