AI Basics
Synthetic media
Any image, video, audio, or text created or heavily altered by AI, from a harmless filter or avatar to a harmful deepfake of a real person.
- Parents
- Educators and school leaders
- Policymakers and staff
What parents should know
Synthetic media is the wide bucket. A storybook illustration and a fake video of a real teacher are both in it. The kind matters. Ask whether a real person's identity was used, whether anyone is being fooled, and whether the file should leave the account. A fun drawing does not need the same response as a deepfake.
On this page
What is synthetic media?
Synthetic means the media was generated or substantially changed by a model rather than only captured by a camera or microphone. Filters, avatars, illustrated stories, cloned voices, and deepfakes all qualify. Researchers use the wide word so harmless and harmful cases stay in one conversation about labels and provenance.
Text is synthetic media too when a model wrote it. Families feel that in homework. Schools feel images and video faster, because a picture of a classmate moves through a chat with no paragraph to debate. Provenance is the attempt to attach a history to the file. It is not universal yet.
Why synthetic media matters
If every AI picture is treated as a deepfake, kids hide creative work. If no AI picture is questioned, a humiliating fake gets a pass. The sort is simple. Imaginary scene, school project, or a real person's face and voice. The third one needs an adult before it is shared.
Parents who post years of real photos also feed later misuse. That is sharenting. A synthetic image can be made from an ordinary album. The response is not to ban drawing. It is to be careful what is public, and to know how to report a harmful fake.
How it shows up in practice
- A child illustrates a book report with a generated picture of a dragon, inside a parent-visible account.
- A teen wants to put a classmate's face on a joke image, and a parent says no.
- A teacher asks students to label generated art on a poster.
- A shocking clip is checked with a phone call before anyone believes it.
How HeyOtto helps
HeyOtto's image and story tools make synthetic pictures for school projects and play, with age filters, inside an account a parent can read. They are not a face-swap or voice-clone product. Public sharing waits for parent approval. Schools can turn image generation off by grade and leave chat or homework on. If a synthetic image becomes an intimate fake of a minor, report it to NCMEC. Do not use HeyOtto as the place to recreate one.
- Label generated work when the assignment asks for that.
- Do not upload photos of other children to steer an image.
- A citation on a search is a different kind of source from a generated picture.
For families
Try freeFAQs
Is a filter a deepfake?
Usually no. A filter is synthetic media. A deepfake is the subset that presents a real person doing or saying something they did not. Use the narrower word when identity and deception are the issue.
Should students be allowed to use generated art?
When the assignment allows it and they say they used it. HeyOtto can keep that work in a transcript a teacher can see. Generated art is not a source for a factual claim about a real event.
How do I label it?
A plain sentence is enough at school: this image was generated. Content credentials are a technical label some tools add. HeyOtto does not claim those credentials are on every image. The sentence still helps.
What if the media is used to threaten someone?
Stop sharing it. If it is an intimate image, use the TAKE IT DOWN path and, for anyone under 18, NCMEC. If it is a fake emergency asking for money, hang up and call the person on a known number. Report impersonation scams at ic3.gov.
Sources
Last reviewed September 26, 2026. This entry is reviewed twice a year.