My radical opinion: AI will *not* amplify disinformation
Always be skeptical of the skeptics of progress
This will surprise none of you, but popular trust in the news media is way down. Gallup’s latest polling found that 39% of Americans have no trust at all in news from newspaper, TV, and radio. “This nearly four in 10 Americans who completely lack confidence in the media is the highest on record.” Ironically, in a world filled with fake news driven by perverse incentives (where clicks matter more than facts), we keep hearing that AI is a threat to humanity because it will lead to disinformation.
My advice: Always be skeptical of the skeptics of progress.
Here’s typical blather from “experts” in a Reuters story:
By some estimates, AI-generated content could soon account for 99% or more of all information on the internet, overwhelming content moderation systems that are already struggling to keep up with the deluge of misinformation, tech experts say.
That’s funny. Humans are doing an impressive job of disinformation without any robot help whatsoever, and we’ve been at it for centuries. See: journalism, yellow. In all seriousness, my contrarian take is that AI is going to lead to a positive revolution in news integrity. The reason is simple.