OPINION: Why media literacy is key to tackling AI-powered misinformation

The Hill
With elections in the United States, United Kingdom, India, Taiwan, the European parliament and more than a dozen other European, Asian and African democracies all taking place in 2024, a huge percentage of the global population will be casting ballots next year.

But this stream of political activity arrives at a time of an explosion in online misinformation, as well as growing concerns surrounding the potential impact of a wave of AI-generated content.

Recent advances in generative AI offer the promise of massive benefits to society, from huge advances in healthcare and scientific research to education and other areas. But at the same time, the continued maturing of this technology has the potential to amplify existing challenges relating to mis- and disinformation, and create new ones. Even the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, has himself admitted to being “a little bit scared” of this threat.

And with so much political activity occurring globally next year, the risks and challenges could not be higher. MORE