June 11th 2024.
According to a recent poll conducted by a media watchdog organization, a majority of Americans are feeling uneasy about the news they read online. It seems that a whopping 79% of people are worried that the information they come across has been manipulated or is simply fake, with the intention of causing confusion among the public. And if that wasn't concerning enough, the poll also revealed that 76% of participants expressed their doubts about the reliability of news surrounding the upcoming presidential election in November.
As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, the survey was carried out by Free Press in collaboration with the African American Research Collaborative and BSP Research. It involved 3,000 American citizens and aimed to gauge their level of confidence in news obtained from online sources. The data collected showed that most Americans, especially those from the Black community, rely heavily on Facebook and YouTube for news updates. However, these platforms do not always verify the accuracy of the information before it is shared with the public.
Marc Temple, the executive director of Concerned Black Men, a non-profit organization that mentors Black youth, stresses the importance of being cautious when it comes to spreading fake news. "People are using social media as their primary source of research, but they are not fact-checking the information they come across," Temple explains. "With the increase in artificial intelligence and the spread of false information, it is easy to fall prey to misleading news if we solely rely on Facebook without doing our own research."
Timothy Welbeck, the director of Temple University's Center for Anti-Racism, also believes that Facebook is a popular platform among Black individuals because it provides a sense of community. He says, "Social media allows marginalized groups to connect with like-minded individuals. However, it is important to be aware that disinformation is often used to disrupt social progress for Black communities. It has been used in the past to discourage voting or to promote apathy towards important social issues."
In a previous report by BLACK ENTERPRISE, it was revealed that supporters of former President Trump used artificial intelligence to create fake photos of him with groups of Black individuals. These photos were then circulated online, leading some to believe that Black support for the ex-president was on the rise. This is just one example of how AI can be used to manipulate public perception.
In May, Wired magazine announced that they would be monitoring the use of artificial intelligence in elections worldwide. They warned against the dangerous potential of tech platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, which have a history of spreading misinformation, scams, and hateful content. Wired's tracker has noted several instances of AI being used in the political sphere in the US, such as a fake robocall featuring President Joe Biden's voice, a deep fake pornographic video of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and AI-generated images of President Biden in military attire.
In a recent episode of Wired Politics Lab, Vittoria Elliott, the reporter behind the AI in elections project, expressed her concerns about the impact of AI on the 2024 election. "Social media companies have been struggling with how to handle election and political content, especially when it comes to misinformation and disinformation," Elliott explains. "But now, we have an added layer of generative AI, which makes it even more challenging to detect false information. Deepfakes and video fakes are already problematic, but there is so much more to this issue that we may not be aware of yet."
Elliott further elaborates on the efforts made by companies like Midjourney, ChatGPT, OpenAI, and Google to regulate the use of AI in politics. However, she believes that these measures are not being strictly enforced, and there is still a risk of AI being used to spread false information. This is a growing concern, as technology continues to advance and AI becomes more sophisticated. In fact, the University of Pennsylvania recently became the first Ivy League college to offer an AI degree program, highlighting the need for stricter regulations in this field.
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