Young people must be able to think critically in an era of technology and fake news, the Hon. Sarah Mitchell MLC, NSW Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning, said at the University of New England, Armidale, on Thursday.
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Ms Mitchell gave the 35th annual Earle Page College Politics Lecture, on education and political engagement in the digital age, on Thursday night.
The internet is a tremendous educational asset, Ms Mitchell argued, but the online flood of information has made it harder for millennials to separate valid from invalid knowledge claims, or fake from real news, than for any previous generation.
"We seem to be witnessing in real time a Facebook-driven, Twitter-fuelled breakdown of the longstanding division between professionals and lay persons, teachers and students, those with achievement in an area and those with none," she said.
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She warned that people can mimic intellectual accomplishment by indulging in an illusion of expertise fed by a limitless supply of facts.
Social media and online echo chambers can disseminate celebrities and bloggers' opinions so widely that the public believes these fake news stories more than the truth; hence conspiracy theories that Barack Obama was not American by birth, vaccines cause autism, and the moon landings were faked.
As minister in charge of one of the world's biggest education systems, Ms Mitchell wanted to make sure that young people could judge the validity of information and reputability of an author, "maximising the internet's educational opportunities while minimising its potential for harm".
"Once you have these tools, the world and all its information becomes your oyster," she said.
Ms Mitchell challenged her audience when the next elections came to research the policy that mattered most to them, whether water policy or the environment; to email their local MP and party candidates; and to make up their minds whose position best aligned with their views and the data. And, ideally, to become involved in politics themselves.
"Don't be afraid to be open-minded," she said. "Ultimately, the best way to distinguish between fake news and real news, between fact and fiction, is a commitment to life-long learning, to building your knowledge base. Learning never stops, and it should never stop."
Ms Mitchell ended her speech hopefully. The rise of artificial intelligence would change the world as much as electricity had, she believed, replacing some jobs while creating new ones. Moreover, there would be an unprecedented demand for those who understood the complex interplay between technology and society.
"We are racing towards a future with immense potential to drive productivity and improve standards of living to levels unfathomable just a generation ago," she said.
"Resolving the great challenges of our time will rely upon all of you simultaneously embracing cutting-edge technology while also retaining the capacity to think critically."