AI-powered software is helping misinformation spread online after disasters : NPR

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

Artificial intelligence helps spread lies across social media, and disinformation about deadly disasters has grown, like when a UPS plane caught fire and crashed during takeoff in Louisville, Kentucky, in November. Here’s Justin Hicks from the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom.

JUSTIN HICKS, BYLINE: Even before investigators started picking up the pieces, people were already sharing and reacting to false, AI-generated articles and videos all over social media. One fake video, shared more than 1,000 times, shows fake firefighters struggling to put out a fake fire next to a fake destroyed fuselage.

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AI-GENERATED VOICE: All units watch for falling debris. Maintain a 50-foot perimeter around the…

HICKS: the last sentence of the post claimed the video was for educational purposes only. And there were loads more fake posts, including articles claiming relatives of Kid Rock, Heath Urban and Bob Dillon all died in the cargo plane crash. Again, none of it true. Trevor Smith (ph) is a pilot and online content creator with a YouTube channel called Pilot Debrief. He’s made a name for himself by explaining airplane crashes. In his search for information, he saw all those posts spreading false analysis of the crash.

TREVOR SMITH: This is so ridiculous, but then you start looking at the comments on it, and you’re like, people are actually believing this. And that was just extremely frustrating to me.

HICKS: Smith also saw people in the comments warning others that these posts are fake. But as a content creator, he knows those comments still count as engagement on most platforms.

SMITH: Every little engagement on the post is another, you know, couple of cents here and there, and they’re making money off of it.

HICKS: AI tools are dramatically accelerating the pace of fake news, says Imran Ahmed. He heads the Center For Countering Digital Hate.

IMRAN AHMED: Disasters are tragic enough on their own, but they’re actually made worse by allowing AI-generated and algorithmically-amplified lies to spread unchecked and potentially create real-world harm for people on the ground, victim’s families.

HICKS: Ahmed says lawmakers have failed to regulate how social media spreads this AI disinformation. President Trump recently signed an executive order keeping states from regulating much of AI. Without large legal penalties, Ahmed worries tech companies have no incentive to make it stop.

AHMED: What we have are people that pay lip service to the idea of safety. They understand that it matters, but actually do very little in practice.

HICKS: After the UPS plane crash, some AI tools even cast out on information that’s been verified. X’s AI assistant called Grok claimed a real photo of Kentucky governor Andy Beshear amid plane debris was from a previous disaster. So how is anyone supposed to know what’s real anymore? None of the social media companies returned our request for comment, but Julia Farrar, head of digital literacy initiatives at Virginia Tech, has some tips.

JULIA FARRAR: The No. 1 thing is to slow down and pause when we are seeing information that sparks a big emotional reaction.

HICKS: She says that’s especially true for posts that ask for donations or urge some action, like resharing or calling a lawmaker. One final tip Farrar says, give people grace when they fall for fakes. She says AI tools are getting more sophisticated, and it can happen to anyone. For NPR News, I’m Justin Hicks in Louisville.

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