Posted by The explosion of AI has not only opened a world of possibilities in content generation – both helpful and questionable – but also a Pandora’s box of fake news sites and misinformation.
It’s no secret there’s erroneous data spewed into cyberspace by not-yet-perfected AI generated content. The proliferation of misinformation generated by low quality content farms is exploding as well – and those intent on using AI for the purpose of making false claims.
The good news is, now there’s a tracking center dedicated to perusing the internet to sniff out and expose such sites. NewsGuard, a journalism and technology rating tool that evaluates the credibility of news and information sites, was created by veteran journalists in 2018.
As a follow-up specific to the AI problem, NewsGuard now launched the “Unreliable AI-Generated News Tracking Center” to spot low quality content and identify those who might be using AI to propel fake news across the internet.
According to NewsGuard Co-CEO, Steven Brill, “Today’s AI-generated ‘news’ websites are akin to the misinformation-spreading Macedonian content farms from a few years ago, with the distinction that these new sites cost even less to produce and can become even more prolific with the enhancements of artificial intelligence.”
NewsGuard has already exposed 150 “Unrelated AI-Generated News” sites known as UAINs. These sources are either primarily or entirely producing content through artificial intelligence, with little human oversight or none at all.
A further problem arises when brands end up placing advertisements on unreliable sites without realizing it’s happening. “Most of these sites were created with the business model of generating revenue from programmatic advertising,” says NewsGuard Co-CEO, Gordon Crovitz, adding that “it seems to be working.”
Crovitz explained how marketers don’t intend to advertise on such sites, but their ads automatically appear unless advertisers access specific exclusion lists, which often doesn’t happen. Marketers may unwittingly find themselves side by side with content they would not want to be aligned with.
NewsGuard’s tracking center already identified state media from Russia and China using AI generated content authoritatively to back false claims. Who will be next in the mix? Do you know how to protect your brand from showing up in fake news spaces? To find out more, keep reading here.