Words: Natalia Nowak (she/her)
CW: sex trafficking
It’s 2016. We are seeing the revival of MAGA, with Trump spearheading the resurrection with his unlikely campaign for presidency against Hilary Clinton, the infamous slogan pulled out of the archives of the 1980 Reagan campaign. Information is swirling online, whether it be real or fake, and people are struggling to come up for air to understand what is truly happening. Conspiracies are rampant, causing critical blows to the integrity of the campaigns on each side. Theories are getting stranger and stranger. But people are believing them.
The same year, a theory called “Pizzagate” led to a man walking into a DC bar of the same name with an assault rifle, firing several shots before surrendering to the police. Don’t let the unimaginative name fool you. The theory persuaded this man to embark on a mission to stop a Democrat international child enslavement ring. He claimed that the Democrats were operating there, speaking in code to discuss underage sex workers, while also involving occult rituals, with the Clintons at the centre of it. This year, a theory was hatched that convinced Republicans that the Democrats were responsible for the creation of Hurricane Milton, causing uproar as the election crept closer. Although some would argue that these are one-off smear campaigns, it highlights that no matter how ridiculous it may sound, disinformation can be dangerous and insidious and why, alongside the use of AI, it’s becoming a significant threat to societal stability and global order.
Artificial Intelligence has made the job easier for those looking to spread disinformation, contributing to the rise in online oppression and making the decline in Internet freedom a crisis. Now, the information you see on Google is regulated by AI, with the AI generative summary feature controlling the initial information you see on a topic. This may seem trivial, but first impressions count after all. Additionally, AI has become excellent at creating new ways to fabricate or change images, audios, or even videos called deepfakes. Increasing numbers of social media platforms are using AI to boost engagement, thus making it easier to disseminate disinformation as the AI continues to look for more content to feed on, eventually using false information to continue the feedback loop. On a governmental level, those in power have been known to employ AI in the dissemination of disinformation as a way of controlling the public’s perception of them. For example, the Venezuelan state media outlets used AI-generated videos of news anchors from a non-existent international English-language channel to spread pro-government rhetoric. Disinformation was already dangerous, examples including rumours on WhatsApp or other online platforms in India and France leading to murders, the spread of hate for Rohingya Muslims on Facebook in Myanmar, or even just the 2016 UK and US elections. Think of how much more powerful the Internet will become as AI becomes integrated into it.
The manipulation of information and its spread have existed since we began developing as a social species and the need for information was seated equally as deep. The internet and social media have simply upgraded the game. Every year we’re seeing the online sphere grow and evolve, becoming a perfect ecosystem to support disinformation, misinformation, and the lot, and with the addition of Artificial Intelligence, it is becoming increasingly difficult to discern the truth from everything else. We like to imagine ourselves as above falling for the clickbait, deepfakes, and AI images on Facebook, laughing at older generations for not being able to tell that the AI image of shrimp Jesus or the deepfake of Tom Cruise spouting rubbish is not real. But it is terrifying and almost heartbreaking, and we are not exempt from it. Soon enough, it will be the younger generations who won’t be able to tell the difference anymore. With the rate at which AI and disinformation tactics are evolving, we will be left in the dust. Then it will be a matter of exploiting our hunger for information, creating an echo chamber that lulls us into believing crazier and crazier theories, fed by a fast-learning AI algorithm and constant influx of information of varying validity.
We will likely never satiate our need for information – it is too deeply ingrained in our very nature. However we must recognise the danger that disinformation poses, and remain wary and alert. What a waste it would be to have such a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips, only to be misled into extremism, propaganda, or plain inanity. We are the ones voting for the next 50-60 years, deciding who will become the next politicians, doctors, policemen, lawyers, and so forth. We shouldn’t allow our perception to be so easily manipulated and thus, controlled.
References
The role of artificial intelligence in disinformation | Data & Policy | Cambridge Core
The world is changing and so are the challenges it faces | World Economic Forum (weforum.org)
How generative AI is boosting the spread of disinformation and propaganda | MIT Technology Review
The very real consequences of fake news stories and why your brain can’t ignore them | PBS News
The challenge of misinformation and ways to reduce its impact. (apa.org)
The Challenge of Misinformation and Ways to Reduce its Impact | 30 | H (taylorfrancis.com)
Consequences of fake news – Fake News – LibGuides at University of Exeter
Misinformation poses a bigger threat to democracy than you might think (nature.com)
Infodemics and misinformation negatively affect people’s health behaviours, new WHO review finds
How and why does misinformation spread? (apa.org)
