A. Journalists should stop speaking about AI models as if they have personalities, and they are sentient. That is really harmful because it changes the conversation from something that we as humans control to a peer-to-peer relationship. We built these tools and we can make them do what we want.
Another thing I would recommend is talking about AI specifically. Which AI model are we talking about? And how does that compare to the other AI models? Because they are not all the same. We also need to talk about AI in a way that’s domain-specific. There’s a lot of talk about what AI will do to jobs. But that is too big a question. We have to talk about this in each field.
"The accounts enjoy a massive reach that is boosted by engagement algorithms, by social media companies greatly reducing or eliminating efforts to remove phony or harmful material, and by endorsements from high-profile figures such as Musk. They also can generate substantial financial rewards from X and other platforms by ginning up outrage against Democrats" #misinformation
In Feb, #Meta unveiled plans to develop a system to identify #AIgenerated#content that users create using services from other #tech companies which have agreed to embed an AI identifier or a watermark.
Meta’s #AI policy will probably be a welcome development to #civil society groups & experts who have been warning that AI-generated #misinformation is already proliferating online during a pivotal #election year.
Fact Check: No, A New Study Does Not Show "Being Trans Is Just A Phase"
Erin Reed Apr 05, 2024
"...There are immediate issues with both the study and the Daily Mail’s interpretation of it. The most evident issue with the study is that it is not a study of transgender individuals; this should be apparent considering that a full 19% of participants indicated "sometimes" or "often" in response to wanting to be the opposite sex at some point in their lives, with the majority selecting "sometimes."
Even the most generous estimates suggest that approximately 0.5% of Americans identify as transgender. It is clear that the authors are measuring an entirely different population by analyzing responses to this single question..."
Jay Kuo takes a sobering look today about how misinformation gets planted in the public square and then takes root and becomes "truth" in the minds of susceptible people.
Case in point: in 1998, the Lancet published a study by Andrew Wakefield which claimed to show a link between vaccines and autism. Kuo writes,
"Wakefield had secretly been paid by a lawyer who was hoping to sue vaccine manufacturers, who had applied for his own measles vaccine patent, and who had supplied bad data and altered patient records."
Study after study, including a massive one tracking tracking 1.8 million children over 14 years, failed to show the link Wakefield claimed was there, and Lancet retracted his piece and Wakefield lost his license.
Now here we are with a presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., spouting total nonsense about vaccines and choosing a VP running mate, Nicole Shanahan, who continues informing the public that vaccinations are linked to autism in children.
And don't fail to read Kuo's entire piece, savaging the New York Times for its continued use of highly problematic polls as weapons against Biden and serving Trump.
🤯 #YouTube approved dozens of election disinformation ads ahead of the #India general election.
"We submitted 48 ads [...containing] content prohibited by YouTube’s #elections#misinformation policies, including false information around the election" like "changes to the voting age, instructions to vote by text message, and incitement to prevent certain groups from voting."
First, #proTrump media feeds its audience a steady diet of #misinformation, and violent encouragement. Then, once the audience is whipped into an #ignorance-based frenzy, the pro-Trump media organizations start distributing #weapons to them, because freedom! Watch how fast they switch to pearl-clutching indignation when someone they provided a weapon to goes out and kills someone. Watch how fast they disavow any responsibility for the inevitable.
"In 2023, weekday editions of #PBS’s nightly news program #NewsHour aired nearly as many segments on the #climate crisis as the nightly news shows on ABC, CBS, and NBC combined. Even though 2023 was the hottest year in recorded history, those networks scaled back their climate coverage.
PBS more consistently connected climate change to fossil fuels.
PBS corrected conservative climate #misinformation."
Good morning valued customers! I'm Ember, admin of transfem.social. I'm here today with a big announcement regarding the exciting new future of our platform.
Beginning today (April 1, 2024), transfem.social and the transfem.org network have partnered with Microsoft to build a new generation of content-centric social media! Our new, patented Microsoft Sharkey (TM) 11 update brings a variety of cutting-edge features to maximize engagement and expand your commercial reach.
Today's update brings you many new features, including:
Sponsored posts - see the latest and greatest right at the top of your home feed.
New recommended timeline - find the most relevant posts using AI intelligence.
Enhanced privacy settings - choose between "share data" and "ask again later" for all tracking and advertisements.
Integration with other Microsoft products - connect to Outlook (TM) and GitHub (TM) to see updates right in your notification sidebar.
Sign in with Microsoft - all legacy Sharkey accounts have been upgraded to a free Microsoft account.
XBOX Gaming support - Clicker, Bubble Game, and Mahjong have been replaced with new ad-funded versions. All existing users will receive 10 free pulls in each game!
Clippy sub-module - all posts are verified for correct and format English grammar. Alternate language packs can be purchased for an additional fee.
Enhanced search - Use Bing to instantly search the entire fediverse - including private posts! Don't know what you want? That's OK, Cortana is here to bring you Microsoft's recommended results for any search query.
Cloud Drive - Microsoft Sharkey's (TM) drive has been fully overhauled. All uploaded media is now backed by Microsoft OneDrive, including automated AI analysis to improve your Sharkey experience.
Of course, I can't forget the single best feature of Microsoft Sharkey (TM) 11 - a brand new re-imagined Ai-chan! In addition to a whole new look, Ai is now backed by Cortana and Copilot. Your new posting companion can help you read, write, and edit any text or media upload. All you have to do is ask - Ai is always listening for her catchphrase "hey Ai!". Say goodbye to typing, and say hello to a new generation of voice-assistant fedi!
As a part of this new era, Sharkey will transition to a source-available model. Instances of less than 100 users can obtain a free license, while larger organizations should contact sales to request a quote. This new model will alleviate funding concerns and ensure that Sharkey is financially prepared for a web 3 future.
Thank you all for your trust and patience as we move forward into a greater future. I hope you enjoy it!
@wjmaggos I can’t tell if this is an astute observation on how #AI propagates #misinformation or if you’re merely adding to the existing corpus. Good job!
#AI#GenerativeAI#USA#Misinformation#ChatGPT#LLMs: "The Pew Research Center—which did similar probes during the rise of the internet, social media, and mobile devices—released a study of how ChatGPT was being used, regarded, and trusted. The sample was taken between February 7 and 11 of this year.
Some of the numbers at first seem to indicate that the LLM controversy might be a parochial disagreement that most people don’t care about. A third of Americans haven’t heard of ChatGPT. Just under a quarter have used it. Oh, and for all the panic about how AI is going to flood the public square with misinformation about the 2024 election? So far, only 2 percent of Americans have used ChatGPT to get information about the presidential election season already underway.
More broadly, though, data from the survey indicates that we’re seeing a powerful technology whose rise is just beginning. If you accept Pew’s sample as indicative of all Americans, millions of people are indeed familiar with ChatGPT. And one thing in particular stands out: While 17 percent of respondents said they have used it for entertainment and an identical number says they’ve tried it to learn something new, a full 20 percent of adults say that they have used ChatGPT for work. That’s up dramatically from the 12 percent who responded affirmatively when the same question was asked six months earlier—a rise of two-thirds." https://link.wired.com/view/5fda497df526221fe830f4d4kr4to.j4/3764bd02
Bullying, Cowardice, And Careerism Behind BBC Disinformation On Gender
Current and former BBC journalists condemn the British media giant for corruption of language and failing to safeguard children and vulnerable adults
The highest purpose of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is to “Pursue the truth with no agenda,” said its Director-General, Tim Davie, last week.