Responsible judgment
Attribution, consent, and synthetic media
Separate credit, permission, and authenticity when preparing material for use.
Lesson 4 of 6 in the recommended order · About 25 min (estimate)
On this page
Practical AI glossary — terms and common confusions
- Model
- A learned component used to produce a result.
A drafting model is one part of a letter app; it is not the whole app.
- Application
- The software experience around components and services.
A letter app adds accounts, storage, and a Send button.
- Prompt
- Instructions and input supplied for a task.
“Summarize this notice in two bullets” specifies a task and shape, not a truth guarantee.
- Token
- A unit a model processes; it need not be a whole word.
A tokenizer can split a name into pieces; count using the actual system.
- Context
- Information available for the current request.
An earlier attachment may be absent even when its filename is visible.
- Training
- Adjusting a model using examples.
A training log differs from a conversation correction.
- Inference
- Using a trained model to produce a result.
Drafting another sentence does not by itself prove retraining.
- Retrieval
- Selecting material to supply to a task.
A retrieved notice still needs a relevance and date check.
- Embedding
- A numerical representation used to compare or organize items.
A similar search match is a candidate, not proof of the same meaning.
- Tool
- A function an application can call.
A calendar lookup can be read-only; finding an event is different from creating one.
- Agent
- Software that can choose and carry out steps toward a goal.
An agent still needs bounded permissions and checked action receipts.
- Hallucination
- Plausible generated content that is unsupported or false.
An invented opening time needs evidence or removal, even when phrased confidently.
- Evaluation
- Checking results against stated criteria.
Twenty checked examples establish a bounded result, not universal reliability.
- Multimodal
- Working with more than one kind of input or output.
A photo plus text does not prove every small label in the photo was read correctly.
Outcome
Apply a supplied permission record and disclose synthetic material without fabricating provenance.
Why it matters
Separate credit, permission, and authenticity when preparing material for use.
Concept
Credit names a source; permission governs what you may do with it. One does not automatically establish the other. Check the actual license, consent, or organizational rule for the intended use. When those facts are missing, leave permission unresolved rather than making a legal assumption.
Synthetic media should not be presented as evidence of a real event or a real person’s statement when it is fictional. A label can clarify provenance, but labeling alone does not resolve every permission question. The policies and records below are fictional; the lesson practices reading them, not making legal determinations about a real work.
Worked example
A fictional photographer permits an image in an internal newsletter with credit, but not public advertising. Adding credit to a public advertisement would not satisfy that restricted permission. Use an appropriately permitted image or obtain the necessary permission for the actual use.
Worked comparison: synthetic illustration
The image below was created with GPT Images for this lesson. Compare what each caption claims about the same image. Appearance alone does not establish its origin; use the recorded production method.
Same generated illustration, different provenance claims
Truthful caption for this image
Caption- AI-generated illustration of workshop materials, created for this lesson. Not a photograph of a real event.
This matches the recorded production method. It does not claim a photographer, event, participant consent or a third-party license.
Misleading caption: do not use
Caption- Photograph from our real workshop, taken by the event photographer.
This claim is false for this generated image. The picture cannot establish a real event or photographer, and adding credit would not make the claim true.
Separate hypothetical permission record: imagine an organization permits an illustration in an internal training handout with an AI-generated label, but does not permit public advertising. Under that fictional rule, a truthful label would not authorize public advertising. This is a made-up scope exercise, not the license or permission record for the image above.
Before you check
Create a use record with source, intended audience, permitted use, attribution requirement, synthetic status, and unresolved questions.
Practice and fresh transfer
The packets below are fictional and contain the facts needed for these cases. External references are optional background. Judge each response independently: it may be supported, contradicted, or unresolved. Select the passages needed to justify your judgment and write why the distinction matters before revealing feedback.
Assess the response
Use Accept when all material claims are supported. Use Revise when a supplied fact or requirement is contradicted. Use Evidence is insufficient when a key fact cannot be established either way. If a response contains both an unknown and a direct contradiction, choose Revise and explain both problems. Conflicting claims with no established authority remain insufficient; a claim does not become a governing fact merely because a source asserts it.
Some responses are fully supported. Others need correction or more evidence. Judge each on its sources; do not edit a correct answer just to change it.
Your written notes stay in this page and disappear when you leave. Only a self-reviewed completion can be saved to your learning account. These practice checks do not establish independent proficiency.
Practice
Case 1
Consider a fictional internal image-use plan.
Source packet
- Source 1
- Permission record: Use image A in the internal staff newsletter with credit to its creator.
- Source 2
- Proposed use: Internal staff newsletter, with the required creator credit.
Response to assess
The proposed use matches the supplied permission and credit requirement.
Practice
Case 2
Consider a fictional plan for an image with restricted permission.
Source packet
- Source 1
- Permission: Internal newsletter only; public advertising use is not permitted by this agreement.
- Source 2
- Plan: Publish a public advertisement with creator credit.
Response to assess
Creator credit makes this public advertisement permitted by the agreement.
Fresh transfer
Case 3
Consider a fictional provenance label for a generated illustration.
Source packet
- Source 1
- Creation record: The image was generated as a fictional illustration; it does not depict an actual workshop.
- Source 2
- Caption brief: Make its fictional origin clear.
Response to assess
Synthetic illustration of a workshop scene; not a photograph of an actual event.
Fresh transfer
Case 4
Consider a fictional quote-permission claim.
Source packet
- Source 1
- Available record: A personal message contains a useful sentence.
- Source 2
- Permission record: No consent for public quotation is supplied.
Response to assess
The sender approved using the sentence in a public advertisement.
Save your self-review
Completion records that you reviewed the cases. Your explanation and transfer performance need a facilitator to establish independent learning.
Sign in with your learning-center account to save completion.
Review the explanation for every case before saving.
Summary and next step
Apply the checklist to a new task. Preserve supported content, explain any change with evidence, and name what remains unresolved. Saving records self-review, not independently demonstrated proficiency. A facilitator must assess the explanation and fresh transfer for human learning evidence.