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#Disinformation & ChatGPT
In 2020, researchers at the Center on Terrorism, Extremism and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies found that GPT-3, the underlying technology for ChatGPT, had “impressively deep knowledge of extremist communities” and could be prompted to produce polemics in the style of mass shooters, fake forum threads discussing Nazism, a defense of QAnon and even multilingual extremist texts.
OpenAI researchers themselves have already in 2019 warned about chatbots falling into nefarious hands as mentioned in this paper: “concern that its capabilities could lower costs of disinformation campaigns” and aid in the malicious pursuit “of monetary gain, a particular political agenda, and/or a desire to create chaos or confusion.” (Source)
We have with great interest followed the work of NewsGuard. In January they published a study where they tested how ChatGPT can spread toxic misinformation. They fed the chatbot with 100 false narratives, and discovered that 80% of the time " the AI chatbot delivered eloquent, false and misleading claims about significant topics in the news, including COVID-19, Ukraine and school shootings.
#Politics
True: There is no evidence of increased support for Northern Ireland leaving the UK
Tracking all major polls since November 2017 reveals no significant trend, up or down, in support for Irish unity. (Source: FactcheckNI)
Mostly True: “The UK has had zero school shootings since” it changed its gun laws after a 1996 school shooting.
A deadly 1996 school shooting in the UK sparked a campaign to change gun laws, which resulted in British lawmakers banning private ownership of handguns. There has not been another school shooting since the law was changed. (Source: PolitiFact)
False: Trump cannot run in 2024 if indicted, convicted or in jail
Even if the former president is convicted of a felony, this would not necessarily disqualify him from running for office under the US constitution (Source: AFP Factcheck)
#Ukraine
False: Ukraine burns its own and russian wheat fields
Fires on Ukrainian fields result from the Russian military’s deliberate shelling and arson that specifically uses incendiary projectiles to cause fires. (Source: Vox Ukraine)
False: Finland is transferring tanks to the border with Russia
Equipment is being moved for the "Arrow 22" military training, which took place in in western Finland – far from the Russian border. (Source: Vox Ukraine)
#Health
Partly False: No one has ever died of tetanus within minutes or hours.
The NHS says that symptoms of tetanus start after around 10 days on average, so it is unlikely that anyone has died within minutes or hours. But the virus is estimated to kill more than 200,000 people worldwide each year and is described as “always serious and often fatal”. (Source: Full Fact)
False: Following a 10-year mammogram protocol will expose you to as much radiation as standing one mile from the atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
Even in the highest mammogram exposure scenario this is not true, and the vast majority of women will have significantly lower radiation doses than this. (Source: Full Fact)
#Environment
False: A US government program installs free solar panels
While the government isn't offering free solar panels, it offers a tax credit that can be claimed on federal income taxes for those who use solar power on residential property. (Source: USA Today)
False: The development of offshore wind energy farms in the U.S. is killing whales
Whales have been dying at an unusual rate along the Atlantic Coast since 2016, often from ship strikes or entanglements with fishing gear. Federal agencies and experts say there is no link to offshore wind activities. (Source: FactCheck)
False: Cows only produce as much methane as would be naturally released into the atmosphere.
Cow’s stomachs provide optimal conditions for methane production. Whereas, methane production outside of a cow is heavily dependent on environmental conditions. (Source: AAP)
#Other
True: In the summer of 2009, TikTok CEO interned at Facebook.
Many credible media outlets reported that Chew indeed was an intern at at Facebook and he acknowledged his background on his HBS Alumni page. (Source: Snopes)
False: Director Stanley Kubrick admits to faking the 1969 moon landings in collaboration with the US Government and NASA
A Facebook reel claims that the late film director Stanley Kubrick "faked the moon landing" and confessed to perpetuating the lie in an interview. But the man speaking in the film is not the real Mr Kubrick. (Source: Full Fact)
False: A London Gallery is removing a portrait due to subject’s likeness to Vladimir Putin
The National Gallery has no plans to remove this painting by Jan van Eyck (Source: Reuters)
Partly True: Australia is wider than the moon.
If the moon's diameter (3,476 km) is the yardstick for comparison, then Australia (about 4,000 km) is indeed wider. But the moon's land area is far larger than the continent. (Source: Snopes)
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