Artificial Intelligence (AI) & the Fake News INFODEMIC

Internet users are inundated with info every single day. Each minute, there are approximately 98,000 tweets, 160 million emails sent, and 600 videos uploaded to YouTube.

To make critical decisions in life, one requires facts. People crave a way to sort through all the information to find valuable content, they can use.

 

The Fake News “Infodemic”

Since anyone has the ability to publish information on the internet, false / fake news can be generated very easily and it travels fast and can have dire consequences.

 

World desperately needs a way to discern truth from fiction in our news and public, political and economic discussions.

 

World’s largest social media networks (companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and others) have come under fire for the part they play in spreading fake news.

 

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence is spearheading the way towards eliminating fake and toxic news.

 

Technology and the Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are now on the job to combat the spread of misinformation on the internet and social platforms.

 

AI algorithms use natural language processing to understand and analyse text.

 

The AI models label the credibility of the source of the content with a rating of low, medium, high, and an article as reliable or unreliable based on comparisons of similar content from more than 100,000 sources.

 

The algorithms are checking not only content, but metadata and images too.

 

The algorithms also check the toxicity of content and can block out profane and obscene content.

 

Man Machine Interface

While AI is able to analyse the   enormous amounts of info generated daily on a scale that is impossible for humans, ultimately, humans need to be part of the process of fact-checking to ensure credibility.

 

Any solution for the purpose of verifying the veracity of news, images, and social discussions will have to to combine artificial intelligence and human intelligence.

 

Machines are adept at quickly analysing volumes of content. They can flag questionable items for review by a human fact-checker as well as become smarter over time with feedback from results.

 

Future Trajectory

AI-based fact checkers can be useful but they still are not fool proof.

 

As the pursuit of fighting fake news becomes more sophisticated, technology leaders will continue to work to find even better ways to sort out fact from fiction.

 

Deep learning can help automate and further refine the AI Tools that help in fake news and disinformation detection.

 

Bottom Line

It is still a Spy versus Spy game

 

Question

Will this problem be ever solved?

 

Suggestions and value additions are most welcome

 

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References

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2021/01/25/fake-news-is-rampant-here-is-how-artificial-intelligence-can-help/?sh=442daa9b48e4

https://www.mygreatlearning.com/blog/role-of-ai-in-preventing-fake-news-weekly-guide/

https://www.verdict.co.uk/social-media-hate-fake-news/

DIGITAL ADDICTION – PART 1: UNDERSTANDING DA

 

Defining DA. Digital addiction can be defined as excessive, obsessive and compulsive use of digital technology. There is a thin line between the need to use a device and the compulsion to use the same. DA is becoming a common phenomenon mainly impacting adolescents and adults and is more common in singles.

Emotional Symptoms. The emotional symptoms could include following:

Anxiety

Loneliness

Stress

Depression

Loss of sense of time

Isolation

Agitation

Lack of concentration

Physical Effects. Physical affects could be as follows:

Backache

Headache

Weight loss / gain

Strained vision

Insomnia

Threats. DA threatens to subvert ones attention from essentials and has potential of negative impact on the general wellbeing. It starts hampering normal life, cutting off people from physical society and relationships.

Remedial measures. Some of the remedial measures are as follows:

Restricting use of smart phones and internet.

Laying down timings.

Removal of unnecessary apps.

Turning off notifications and alerts.

De-addiction. National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences has started a clinic (Service for Healthy use of Technology) for internet de-addiction.

Please feel free to comment and provide value addition.

Click here for Part 2: Online Shopping Addiction

DIGITAL ADDICTION

We are in the Digital age where information is readily available on our electronic devices. The pandemic has further increased our screen time.

The digital connectivity  has been a savior in many ways. It has helped everyone to stay connected with their near and dear ones  providing much needed morale support to each other. Biggest advantage has been online work, transactions and supply chain.

At the same time It is bringing a drastic change in our day to day activities and social behavior. 

Starting a new series on the issues related to digital addiction. This will be covered in several parts as follows:

    • Smart Phone Addiction.
    • Social Media Addiction.
    • Internet Addiction.
    • Selfie Addiction.
    • Computer Games Addiction.
    • Online Shopping Addiction.

COMING UP

Click here for Part 1 Understanding Digital Addiction.