Hello, and welcome to the playmarketing blog! Today we will talk about a phenomenon that has been rooted on the web for years but which, in recent times, with the development of Artificial Intelligence, is becoming increasingly worrying. We are talking about Fake News: how has Artificial Intelligence amplified this phenomenon? What should we all do to distinguish false news on the web? Let’s discuss it together.
WHAT IS MEANT BY “FAKE NEWS”?
Fake News are pieces of information that, in part or in whole, are not true, often deliberately spread to create a sensation, for clickbait purposes, or, in more serious cases, to defame individuals and organizations. Fake News are systematically disseminated through social media and sometimes, albeit less frequently, they also reach the spotlight through traditional media such as television, radio, or print media. Although the dissemination of inaccurate news is not always done in bad faith, this phenomenon remains concerning (and dangerous).
It often happens that a user reads online news that appears to be as realistic as it is surprising and then decides to share and spread it, believing it to be true. This blog aims to reduce this occurrence, so that fewer and fewer well-meaning people or companies fall into the “trap” of those who deliberately publish incorrect content to spread disinformation.
HISTORICAL EXAMPLE: 2020-2022, THE EXPLOSION OF FAKE NEWS DURING THE PANDEMIC PERIOD
The phenomenon of Fake News has always existed. Throughout history, there have been countless examples of false news being spread at various levels. If we look at the present day, we can cite a peak of Fake News, for example, during the pandemic period when an impressive amount of distorted and often inaccurate news was spread on the internet by individuals or organized groups with the precise objective of generating fear and disinformation.
2023: THE BOOM OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
But let’s get to the theme of this blog, Fake News and Artificial Intelligence. “So many opinions and so little information generate confusion and false news. This was demonstrated by Covid first, then the war, and today climate change. Italians need a network of information professionals they can trust, who can also help them become more aware of how to recognize quality sources and news,” commented Giuseppe De Rita, president of Censis, as reported by datamagazine.it, concerning some of the most important topics touched by this phenomenon. A phenomenon that in the last year has unfortunately seen further growth in parallel with the rapid development of another very influential element: Artificial Intelligence precisely. A tool that, if used correctly, can be very valuable. But if used by people in bad faith, it can generate dangerous (mis)information effects.
Just think about the possibility of creating moving images of real existing people (deepfake) with the ability to reproduce realistic voices: practices that, in the eyes of most users, make it almost impossible to distinguish the true from the false.
SOME TIPS TO ADOPT TO DEFEND OURSELVES FROM FALSE INFORMATION
This brings us to the crux of the matter: what can we do to not “fall” for the traps present online? Well, first of all, with “fake” material becoming increasingly similar to the authentic, it is important to always have a basic doubt. We’re talking about that healthy initial skepticism that doesn’t lead us to take news as true immediately from the first source. When news seems strange to us, we should be alert. Secondly, always check the source: the more news we read, the more we learn to distinguish reliable headlines from those that are less so. Finally, especially if you don’t know the publication (but it’s good to do it regardless), check if other news containing the same information appear. If a “Wow” news appears on a single site, it is unlikely to be reliable.
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For more information on the phenomenon of “Fake News” online and on the behaviors to adopt to recognize them, contact us!
