Misinformation is on the rise after natural disasters, in part because artificial intelligence software makes it easier to create and spread lies on social media.
AND MARTINEZ, GUEST:
Artificial intelligence is helping spread lies on social media, and misinformation about deadly disasters is on the rise, such as when a UPS plane caught fire and crashed during takeoff in Louisville, Kentucky, in November. Here's Justin Hicks from the Appalachia + Mid-South news team.
JUSTIN HICKS, BYLINE: Even before investigators began gathering details, people were already sharing and reacting to false articles and videos generated by artificial intelligence all over social media. One fake video, shared more than 1,000 times, shows fake firefighters trying to put out a fake fire next to a fake destroyed fuselage.
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AI VOICE: All units are watching for falling debris. Maintain a 50-foot perimeter around…
HICKS: The last sentence of the post stated that the video was for educational purposes only. And there were many more fake posts, including articles claiming that relatives of Kid Rock, Heath Urban and Bob Dillon had died in a cargo plane crash. Again, none of this is true. Trevor Smith (ph) is a pilot and online content creator who owns a YouTube channel called Pilot Debrief. He made a name for himself explaining plane crashes. While searching for information, he saw all these messages spreading a false analysis of the disaster.
TREVOR SMITH: It's so funny, but then you start reading the comments and you think: people actually believe this. And it just made me extremely upset.
HICKS: Smith also saw people in the comments warning others that the posts were fake. But as a content creator, he knows that those comments still count as engagement on most platforms.
SMITH: Every little contribution to this post is another couple of cents here and there, and they make money from it.
HICKS: Artificial intelligence tools are dramatically accelerating the spread of fake news, says Imran Ahmed. He heads the Center for Countering Digital Hate.
IMRAN AHMED: The disasters themselves are tragic, but they are actually made worse by the fact that lies, generated by AI and amplified by algorithms, spread unchecked and have the potential to cause real harm to people on the ground, to the families of the victims.
HICKS: Ahmed says lawmakers have failed to regulate how social media companies spread misinformation about artificial intelligence. President Trump recently signed an executive order prohibiting states from regulating most AI. Ahmed worries that without major legal penalties, tech companies will have little incentive to stop it.
AHMED: We have people who pay lip service to the idea of ​​security. They understand that this is important, but in practice they do very little.
HICKS: After the UPS plane crash, some artificial intelligence tools even discard verified information. An X aide named Grock claimed that the actual photo of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear in the plane's wreckage was taken during a previous crash. So how do you even know what is real? None of the social media companies responded to our request for comment, but Julia Farrar, director of digital literacy initiatives at Virginia Tech, has some advice.
JULIA FARRAR: The key is to slow down and pause when we see information that evokes a strong emotional response.
HICKS: She says this is especially true for messages that ask for donations or call for some kind of action, such as sharing information or calling a legislator. One final piece of advice Farrar gives is to give people grace when they fall for fakes. She says artificial intelligence tools are becoming more sophisticated and it can happen to anyone. For NPR News, I'm Justin Hicks in Louisville.
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