All posts tagged: misinformation

It’s an AI World, and We’re All Just Living In It

It’s an AI World, and We’re All Just Living In It

Published by Sam Flores

Don’t worry, ChatGPT told us to just trust the robots… In a shockingly short period of time, AI has gone from tech novelty to a part of our everyday lives. More industries are incorporating AI into daily workflow so that employees have more time for creative work – at least in theory. Roxy’s and Katelyn’s respective professions (journalism and book publishing) are still figuring out the ethical boundaries around AI. Meanwhile, we’ve all seen the dark side of these tools: deep fakes, chatbots encouraging users to harm themselves, and platforms overrun with AI slop. Do these tools portend a bright new age or civilizational collapse? We hash it out, with minimal help from the robots and a lot more help from a leader of a D.C. think tank helping to create policies that keep these powerful tools in their place. GUEST: Meredith Potter is executive director of the American Security Fund and the American Security Foundation, the latter of which works to ensure artificial intelligence (AI) is understandable, controllable, responsible, ethical, and human-centered. She is …

It’s an AI World, and We’re All Just Living In It

It’s an AI World, and We’re All Just Living In It + Meredith Potter

Published by Sam Flores

Don’t worry, ChatGPT told us to just trust the robots… In a shockingly short period of time, AI has gone from tech novelty to a part of our everyday lives. More industries are incorporating AI into daily workflow so that employees have more time for creative work – at least in theory. Roxy’s and Katelyn’s respective professions (journalism and book publishing) are still figuring out the ethical boundaries around AI. Meanwhile, we’ve all seen the dark side of these tools: deep fakes, chatbots encouraging users to harm themselves, and platforms overrun with AI slop. Do these tools portend a bright new age or civilizational collapse? We hash it out, with minimal help from the robots and a lot more help from a leader of a D.C. think tank helping to create policies that keep these powerful tools in their place. GUEST: Meredith Potter is executive director of the American Security Fund and the American Security Foundation, the latter of which works to ensure artificial intelligence (AI) is understandable, controllable, responsible, ethical, and human-centered. She is …

Analysis Finds That Google’s AI Overviews Are Providing Misinformation at a Scale Possibly Unprecedented in the History of Human Civilization

Analysis Finds That Google’s AI Overviews Are Providing Misinformation at a Scale Possibly Unprecedented in the History of Human Civilization

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Google’s AI Overviews are peddling misinformation on a scale that may be virtually unprecedented in human history. A recent analysis conducted by the AI startup Oumi at the behest of The New York Times found that the AI-generated summaries, which appear above Google search results, are accurate around 91 percent of the time.  In a sense, that may sound like an impressive figure. But here’s an even more impressive one: five trillion. That’s roughly the number of search queries that Google processes every year, translating to tens of millions of wrong answers that the AI Overviews are providing every hour — and hundreds of thousands every minute, the analysis calculated. In other words, Google has created a misinformation crisis. Studies have shown that people tend to trust what an AI tells them without question, with one report finding that only 8 percent of users actually double checked an AI’s answer. Another experiment found that users still listened to …

It’s not just gen Z – older adults need help spotting online misinformation too

It’s not just gen Z – older adults need help spotting online misinformation too

Published by Sam Flores

Given the ongoing and often heated debate about banning social media for under-16s, it’s easy to assume that young people are the only group at risk of online harm. Misinformation research often focuses on younger people, and multiple studies do identify younger groups, such as generation Z, as vulnerable to online deception. But evidence shows that older adults are just as, if not more, likely than younger generations to believe misinformation. Despite the spread of misinformation online, around 15% of adults rarely or never consider if news items are true. Indeed, adults aged 65 and older shared nearly seven times more fake news links during the 2016 US election, in comparison to younger users. Older adults may be more at risk of believing falsehoods due to changes such as memory loss and lower digital skills. In 2024, nine in ten people in the UK reported seeing misinformation on social media. Yet only 3% of the population had taken a media literacy course. While there is working being done to ensure technology is accessible, users must …

Donald Trump Repeats Misinformation On NATO Policy

Donald Trump Repeats Misinformation On NATO Policy

Published by Sam Flores

Donald Trump has repeated his favourite piece of misinformation about Nato as he took another swipe at the military alliance. The US president said the organisation – of which America is a founding member – “will never come” to the Unites States’ rescue, despite the fact it did just that after the September 11 terror attacks on New York in 2001. That remains the only time Nato has invoked Article 5 of its constitution, which obliges all member states to help defend another if it comes under attack. Trump also repeated his criticism of Nato for not sending warships to help re-open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic – even though it is a purely defensive alliance. Speaking at a meeting of his cabinet in the White House, Trump said: “We’re very disappointed with Nato because Nato has done absolutely nothing. “And I’ve always said, 25 years ago, I was somebody that wasn’t a politician but I was always involved in politics and I understood politics. “I said 25 years ago that Nato’s a …

New research suggests truth has a natural competitive edge over misinformation

New research suggests truth has a natural competitive edge over misinformation

Published by José Betancourt

Truthful messages are more persuasive and more likely to be shared than false ones, according to new research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The findings, drawn from four large experiments, challenge the widespread belief that misinformation naturally spreads more effectively than accurate information. Concerns about the influence of false information have intensified in recent years, particularly as misleading claims have been linked to delayed climate action, public health issues, and a loss of trust in institutions. Earlier studies have shown that falsehoods can travel rapidly on platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), leading many to conclude that lies possess an inherent advantage in the digital environment. However, the new research suggests that this pattern may be shaped more by the design of social media platforms than by human preference. Led by Nicolas Fay from the University of Western Australia, the researchers sought to examine how people respond to true and false information when the influence of algorithms, bots, and platform incentives is removed. The team conducted four experiments involving a combined …

The truth about ‘turbo cancer’ and mRNA vaccines as misinformation threatens progress

The truth about ‘turbo cancer’ and mRNA vaccines as misinformation threatens progress

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the Well Enough newsletter with Harry Bullmore for tips on living a healthier, happier and longer life Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Scientists are making rapid progress toward a long-awaited goal that could help to reshape cancer care: mRNA cancer vaccines with the potential to significantly boost the immune system’s ability to fight and eliminate tumors. Since the early 2000s, there have been over 120 promising clinical trials testing the use of mRNA vaccines to treat multiple cancer types, such as melanoma, brain, breast, lung and prostate cancer. At the same time, misinformation about so-called turbo cancer began spreading widely on social media, with mainstream media outlets first reporting on it in late 2022. Turbo cancer refers to the false claim that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines cause unusually aggressive cancers. As a researcher in health communication who monitors cancer-related conversations online, I have seen how quickly new misinformation can spread and the impact it can have on people’s health decisions. In the case of …

Why conspiracy theories persist even without evidence

Why conspiracy theories persist even without evidence

Published by Jenni Sidey

Loose ends bother some minds more than others. When the world feels messy, a story that ties every thread into one knot can feel like relief. That pull toward order sits at the center of a new study led by Flinders University. The work suggests that a person’s “systemizing” style, a strong drive to find patterns and consistent rules, can predict who is more drawn to conspiracy beliefs. The researchers argue this matters because conspiracy beliefs can shape vaccine uptake, trust in institutions, and how people respond during emergencies. “People often assume conspiracy beliefs form because someone isn’t thinking critically,” says Dr Neophytos Georgiou from Flinders University’s College of Education, Psychology and Social Work. “But our findings show that for those who prefer systematic structure, conspiracy theories can feel like a highly organized way to understand confusing or unpredictable events.” When order becomes the point The study challenges a simple stereotype: that conspiracy beliefs mostly come from sloppy thinking. Instead, it points to a cognitive preference that can exist alongside solid reasoning skills. Dr Neophytos …

Misinformation is a challenge teachers can’t face alone

Misinformation is a challenge teachers can’t face alone

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Teachers need help defending evidence-based debate, or they may shy away from challenges or inadvertently spread misinformation themselves, writes Chris Morris Every day, teachers share a challenge that we face as fact checkers: the rapid emergence of an online world in which notions of objective reality are under threat, and a shared understanding of truth is being eroded. It presents a profound challenge for the profession. Teachers are increasingly expected to act not only as subject specialists, but also as arbiters of reliable knowledge. Pupils, and indeed teachers, arrive in classrooms exposed to a constant stream of information from social media, influencers and online communities that often think opinion is the same as evidence. This can make teaching established scientific, historical or civic knowledge more contentious, particularly when facts don’t support narratives that individuals have absorbed at home or online. Some teachers may find themselves navigating accusations of bias or indoctrination simply for following the national curriculum or a broad scientific consensus. The pressure is intensified by the bewildering …

New study finds AI depictions of Neanderthals are outdated and wrong

New study finds AI depictions of Neanderthals are outdated and wrong

Published by Jenni Sidey

Over the past 40 years, phones and computers have turned into the world’s largest library. Answers now arrive in seconds. With generative artificial intelligence, that speed has only increased. A question about ancient humans or heart rate changes can be answered instantly. What still lags behind is accuracy. That gap is the focus of new research led by Matthew Magnani, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Maine, and Jon Clindaniel, a professor of computational anthropology at the University of Chicago. Their study, published in the journal Advances in Archaeological Practice, asks a simple question with wide impact: when AI is asked to show daily life in the deep past, does it reflect modern science or outdated ideas? The researchers turned to Neanderthals as their test case. The species, known scientifically as Homo neanderthalensis, has been debated for more than a century. Early scientists pictured Neanderthals as hunched, primitive, and barely human. More recent work paints a different picture, showing cultural skill, social depth, and physical diversity. That long shift made Neanderthals an …