GSAN: AI bots spreading disinfo

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AI bots spreading disinfo | ‘Sextortion’ on Instagram

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Election disinformation can unfold from AI-powered bots behind social media accounts. Image credit score: News Literacy Project.

Most newsroom staffers are utilizing synthetic intelligence in some capability, a serious shift within the affect of AI know-how in journalism. A brand new Associated Press research discovered that just about 70% of 292 newsroom staffers surveyed final December are utilizing AI to generate social media posts; write story drafts and headlines; and translate or transcribe interviews. However, lower than half of the respondents mentioned they’ve tips for AI utilization of their newsrooms. One of the research’s authors, Hannes Cools, famous that “generative AI is right here to remain” and that experimentation and discussions of AI use in journalism “might result in extra accountable use.”

Instagram will blur nude pictures in direct messages to assist forestall younger folks from falling for on-line scams like sexual extortion, or “sextortion.” The nudity blur function will probably be mechanically turned on for Instagram customers beneath 18 however gained’t be added to mother or father firm Meta’s different platforms (Facebook and WhatsApp). Although the function is a constructive step, former Meta engineering director Arturo Béjar mentioned it doesn’t go far sufficient in combating the issue. Béjar’s analysis discovered that 1 in 8 teenagers obtain an undesirable advance on Instagram each seven days — a actuality he says gained’t change till the platform offers extra instruments and is clear about the issue.

Note: The associated hyperlinks beneath comprise grownup language and/or sexual references.
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Posts falsely declare surge in migrants registering to vote with out picture ID

NO: Millions of individuals didn’t register to vote with out a picture ID in Texas, Pennsylvania and Arizona throughout the first three months of 2024.NO: Noncitizens can’t vote in federal elections within the United States, even when they’re approved to work within the U.S. and have obtained a Social Security quantity.YES: The knowledge cited within the posts refers back to the whole variety of requests from these states to the Social Security Administration to confirm voter identities utilizing their Social Security numbers over the previous three months, to not new voter registrations.YES: State election officers in Texas, Pennsylvania and Arizona mentioned the totals cited within the posts are incorrect and that the precise variety of new voter registration purposes is way decrease.NewsLit takeaway: Social media posts that cite statistics and hyperlinks can seem, at first look, to supply sound proof for claims. While it may be tempting to just accept the “proof” that accompanies sensational posts like these — particularly after they verify a pre-existing perception — it’s at all times good to pause and critically look at them additional. In this case, real knowledge is being misrepresented to help the false declare that voting is being rigged and to undermine folks’s religion in democracy and elections.The declare that noncitizens are registering to vote is a part of a rising development in election misinformation that seeks to use controversy over unlawful immigration to push falsehoods that exaggerate the specter of election fraud. Finally, it’s at all times necessary to contemplate the supply of a declare earlier than participating with a social media put up. In this case, this rumor was being unfold by accounts that continuously push falsehoods.

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