Disinformation in times of artificial intelligence

In addition, mistrust in media, especially digital media, is increasing. The World Economic Forum (Source: Global Risks Report 2024) classifies the spread of misinformation through artificial intelligence as the greatest risk of a global crisis in the next two years. According to the Bertelsmann study “Insecure public”, half of all participants say that they do not feel able to reliably assess information on the internet.

Regardless of which digital channels you use to obtain information, such as search engines, social media or messaging services, you will more or less come into contact with deliberately created disinformation. Once uncovered, however, reporting also leads to increased skepticism towards trusted sources of information. A dilemma that can ultimately only be resolved through constant awareness-raising and educational formats tailored to the target group.

Disinformation is deliberately spread false or misleading information with the aim of causing damage and spreading uncertainty. The terms misinformation and fake news are often used synonymously with disinformation, although misinformation is “accidentally” false information. This also includes the classic canard, clickbaiting, satire or parodies.

Disinformation is spread through a variety of media, from traditional methods to newer digital methods. Modern phenomena include deepfakes, social bots and framing, which are becoming increasingly important. Traditional techniques, on the other hand, include fake photos, imitation websites, misleading or abbreviated quotes taken out of context, inaccurate statistics and fictitious claims.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in the creation and distribution of disinformation, as it has never been so easy to create false information of such perfect quality and in such large quantities. Texts, images, audio and even videos can be produced in just a few simple steps and disinformation or deepfakes can be created almost at will and even distributed automatically.

While the progressive development of AI offers the transformative power to help solve the major problems of our society, such as climate change, participation, education and healthcare, it also creates the opportunity to use the technology for disinformation. At the same time, AI can promote the spread of disinformation, weakening diversity of opinion and reinforcing existing inequalities through systemic BIAS.

Disinformation poses a major challenge, not least due to the capabilities of AI. Content is distributed, shared, commented on and liked extremely quickly and broadly on the internet, especially on social media and messaging services. The information is not verified for accuracy by the platform operators. In addition, the limited scope of such messages (character limit on Twitter, short descriptions for posts on Instagram & Co., no text level for voice messages, stories and reels, etc.) often leaves no room for sources or references.

If you also take into account the deliberately entertaining consumption on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, which is controlled by the platform operators, this quickly leads to overwhelming situations and reduces both our ability and our “desire” to assess trustworthiness. This can have a significant impact on social cohesion and, particularly with regard to adolescents, we all have a duty to consider and pass on the following points:

In our themed dossier “Disinformation in times of artificial intelligence ”, we address many aspects of disinformation with interactive formats, background texts and very specific recommendations for action and would like to support adult mentors in providing young people with competent guidance.