By LEKAN OTUFODUNRIN
I was in Ibadan last Saturday as one of the facilitators at the Digital Democracy Lab AI Fundamentals Workshop organised by FactCheckAfrica and spoke on AI & Fact-Checking; Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Fact-Checking and Combating Misinformation.
To capture the state of information dissemination in the country, I recalled some old sayings which are no longer true due to the level falsehood shared on various platforms. I also added some thoughts to consider to avoid being deceived.
Ireje o si ninu photo, bo ba se joko lo ma ba ara e (Pictures don’t lie)
Pictures can lie now with use of various tools to alter them. Someone in a picture can be taken out and someone else added.
Seeing is believing
Seeing is no longer believing. Not even hearing. You have to double-check and confirm what you are seeing or hearing.
Voices can be cloned. Many things are not what they seem to be online.
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Believe everything you see online at your own risk.
Indeed, we all have to. While many unknowingly share false information (misinformation) some people deliberately share fake content (disinformation and Malinformation)
Be wary of things you read and see online chances that they are false if they are from unverified sources is high.
Are journalists still abiding with the ethics of when in doubt, leave out?
Many, especially so-called citizen journalists are too eager to share information from unverified sources for reasons best known to them.
The intersection between AI and Fact-Checking is that AI tools can enhance fact-checking in terms of accuracy, speed, and scope of verification.
While AI tools can help generate false information, they can also enhance fact-checking. This reminded me of one of the lyrics of a song by an Ibadan musician “Were lo fin wo were” (madness can be cured with madness).
How: AI tools are is capable of Claim detection, Evidence gathering, Source verification, Contextual analysis and Tracking spread of information.
While some people are perfecting how to write with AI tools without being found out, many AI tools are also being developed to detect AI-generated content.
AI is indeed tackling AI.
