Â鶹ӰÊÓ

Skip to main content

'Entirely made up': The risk of seeking facts on AI-enhanced internet

Share

Many are already aware how artificial intelligence (AI) is fooling people online with images such as the Pope wearing a fashionable jacket, or Donald Trump being chased by police.

But Gordon Crovitz, CEO of NewsGuard, a company focusing on preventing misinformation in media, warns the technology is also creating believable news articles with an "authoritative" voice.

"The internet of a few months ago, before AI, already was full of misinformation and what looked like reliable news sources," Crovitz told CTV's Your Morning on Friday. "What we now have is AI-enhanced internet."

Crovitz says that makes even more important to trust factual news sources for information and not rely on AI tech like ChatGPT and Google Bard.

The advancement of AI in the past few months is concerning for Crovitz, because it can produce very believable misinformation.

"They get, very often, answers from these AI tools that are very well-written explanations on topics in the news, perfect grammar, highly persuasive, and entirely false," he said. "There's no way for people to understand that the response from an AI machine that's written to this authoritative style, often with no citations, may be entirely made up."

NewsGuard tested whether ChatGPT would write false information based on misleading ideas, and the technology complied 100 per cent of the time.

Crovitz says AI-generated answers were also "highly convincing."

"So convincing that, just yesterday, a NewsGuard analyst found what we think is the first example of a Chinese disinformation effort, citing ChatGPT as an authoritative source," Crovitz said.

As AI continues to evolve, Crovitz encourages people to question what they are reading online before taking it as fact. But the onus is not just on people using AI, Crovitz believes companies need to be diligent as well.

"If the humans in charge of training the AI, actually train the AI, then we could see a reduction in the propensity to misinform," he said.

 

To hear the full interview click the video at the top of this article.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

The British Columbia election campaign is set to officially start today, with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin issuing the writ for the Oct. 19 vote.

A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.

Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Montérégie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.

A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.

Local Spotlight

Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.