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In reading through a news aggregator app on my phone this morning I noted the following tag to one article:
This post includes content assisted by AI tools. This content was assisted by AI and may contain errors. Please verify critical information with trusted sources.
Set aside the fact that the last sentence has been true, if not forever, for a long time. The key component is “AI tools”. Which tools? What coder bias?
The article itself was about the December arrest of a Tennessee man affiliated with “the Proud Boys” for J6 activities. His charge was the notorious 1512 obstruction charge currently under review by the Supreme Court. Any mention of that in the published report? Nope. Just the government POV. No observation that the government has waited nearly 3 years to bring charges and arrest someone for something the Supreme Court may say is not a real thing — or at least its inconsistent application based on the political identity of the obstructors makes it impermissible selective prosecution.
The reason I even noticed the note was that I was looking to see if this was simply a republication of a newswire piece from (the dreadful) AP. But now, with AI, a small news outlet doesn’t need to subscribe and republish a newswire . It can simply let the AI crawl the internet and cobble together a story for them. Of course, the coder may have instructed the AI to rely on certain sources more than others. And maybe the news company can issue such instructions.
I would say “brave new world” but feels more like 1984. Thoughts?
Discussion (16)
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Thoughts? I outsource my thoughts to AI.
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It will be a struggle to determine, access and use a primary source. The “government” handles substantially all data and it’s all (as far as I can see) fouled somehow. So - you’re back to your own lying’ eyes.
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I guess, even more than in the past, we will need to scrutinize our news sources, and hope that they have verified their own sources. Who to believe anymore?
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The only way I can see to have 'trust' in the sense that it was developed as a part of the American economic persona during the formative period of the nation is to 'go local' and avoid 'bigness' politically.
So what examples can be used to illustrate what is meant by such a strange statement?
Identify those things that don't serve the people. Look for the reasons this is so.
A short list:
Banking
Border Control
Law Enforcement
Healthcare
Public Education
The size and scope of today's functioning operations in these areas is beyond being influenced and controlled by the people so 'trust' as described earlier in this comment is missing.
Broad use of AI may make this worse but America as founded is done absent significant restorative action.
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AI in all likelihood will be subject to the biases of algorithms of whoever is entering the information for publication.
In my opinion it's like all the new bloggers and their websites that now appear on newsfeeds along with the NYT, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and whoever else you can think of.
When I see a news story, I usually revert to does what I'm reading defy common sense. Anonymous sources in a news story are hearsay and can either be believed or discarded.
I rely on Police Report Writing 101-Who, What, When, Where, and How. I never put Why in my reports unless the subject I arrested told me Why.
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