AI-generated content is the new neighbor on the internet that everyone loves to see. With the availability of AI tools such as Google Bard and ChatGPT, it's now easier to create a project of your own.
However, since it's AI-driven, some information looks legit at first, but later turns out to be a disaster- fake news, bogus sites, digitally-altered images, and more.
It's somewhat getting harder to spot what is AI-generated from the real content, but there's a way to find it out.
AI Misinformation is Flocking the Internet
The upcoming US Elections 2024 has proved to us that AI content can also be used in political ads. It's not every day that we notice how they are barely different from those made by local creators.
There are edited photos of Pope Francis with a Balenciaga white coat which appears realistic. But, if you will verify it, it's AI-generated, per The Washington Post.
There are also ads showing the "reelected" Biden helping Uncle Sam. The migrants are present in the frame and they are crossing the border amid the war. It's easier to get deceived by these antics if you fail to ignore the elements of the content in the first place.
The thing is, humans are sometimes struggling to distinguish AI-generated content from the real ones and this is where the misinformation comes into play.
With a little change on the subject, a person can fool a village with generative AI. Some experts say that AI tools excel in deceiving people more than humans.
As per Wasim Khaled, Blackbird.AI CEO, deep fakes and the influx of disinformation campaigns can easily separate the fiction from the reality that we're seeing.
"This warping of reality threatens to undermine public trust and poses significant societal and ethical challenges," Khaled adds.
What is AI Hallucination
According to the Center for an Informed Public's co-founder, Javin West, misinformation is not always intentional since it can also create its own version of "fake" information. This is called "hallucination".
The AI will only create content based on real-world data. However, this does not mean that what it's making is always on point. At times, it can fabricate the content and "hallucinate" the sources.
With ChatGPT, we are never sure if what it's saying is real or not. But, we can always double-check the information by going to legitimate websites or pages.
A report from Wired says that someone built a disinformation machine for just $400. Just imagine the machinery needed to effectively deceive more people into believing a fabricated story on the internet.
How to Spot AI Misinformation
There are available AI tools you can use to detect fake information on the generated content. However, not all of them are reliable, per CNET.
For you to efficiently recognize an AI-made content, you can:
- Search for AI quirks- This means looking for weird sentence structures, grammar errors, strange facial features (if photo), and more.
- DYOR - By doing your own research, you can check if the AI content that trended on TikTok is fake or not.
- Look for the source - Another important thing to do is to verify the source of the information. If it came from an "unheard" source, then it's definitely a bogus one.
- Reality check - Talk to your friend and discuss AI misinformation. Take a break from the internet once in a while.
