North Edmonton students discuss online safety, AI with Google Roadshow

Technology is blurring the line between real and fake videos. It’s yet one more reason for students and their parents to question the safety of the online world.

“I get confused when I see things like that sound a little fishy online, but I don’t believe everything,” said Gia Berro, a student at Florence Hallock High School.

To help kids understand the evolving online landscape, Google’s online safety roadshow visited North Edmonton’s Florence Hallock High School on Thursday, discussing the risks and responsibilities of surfing the web with kids in Grades 5 through 9.

“The region is so tech-friendly, really innovative, so it made sense to launch here,” said Laurence Therrien, the public affairs manager of Google Canada.

This visit comes just days after Google unveiled its new AI video generator, VEO, which creates hyper-realistic renderings based off written commands called prompts.

Back in Edmonton, Therrien says now more than ever, understanding what you see on the internet and taking the appropriate safety precautions is critical.

“Even we grapple with that as adults, and so, starting from very early on teaching those foundational principles makes kids grow up and have that muscle really trained,” said Therrien.

One student CityNews spoke to hopes some of the lessons will stick in the minds of her classmates.

“Lots of fake things are being spread lately, teens really don’t know what to believe and what not to believe,” said Berro.

As the online world becomes more advanced with rapidly evolving artificial intelligence, Google is developing and updating its online safety resources.

Still hoping parents will have conversations with their children about the risks and responsibilities that come with using the internet.