The big tech companies are now concentrating on AI. Big tech companies like Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and others are advancing their AI and ML models in an effort to completely transform the way we work in the digital sphere. But the ease of use of AI is also bringing with it new difficulties, like the propagation of false information via content produced by AI. In an effort to counteract deepfakes and misinformation produced by artificial intelligence, Meta and the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA) have recently partnered to establish a dedicated fact-checking helpline on WhatsApp.
The MCA made an official announcement on social media that the new helpline will be open to the public starting in March 2024. It will assist people in reporting and flagging deepfakes, or artificial intelligence-generated misleading media that can mislead people about important public matters. The chatbot on WhatsApp will provide multilingual support in English and three regional languages. The helpline will assist people in reporting AI deepfakes and in connecting with reliable and verified sources of information.
Users can send messages to the helpline, and digital labs, industry partners, and fact-checkers will review and validate them, according to MCA. They will assess the content’s legitimacy and reveal any false or manipulative information. In order to evaluate and validate the content and respond to the messages appropriately, dispelling false claims and misinformation, we will collaborate closely with member fact-checking organizations, industry partners, and digital labs, stated MCA.
The program’s main goal is to put into practice a four-pillar strategy that includes detection, prevention, reporting, and raising public awareness of the growing problem of deepfakes. It also aims to create a vital tool that will enable citizens to obtain trustworthy information in order to counteract the spread of false information,” MCA adds.
Interestingly, the Misinformation Combat Alliance is building a central unit for deepfake analysis, while Meta is working on a chatbot for WhatsApp. All of the helpline’s messages will be handled by this department. In order to locate, verify, and investigate false material on the platform, Meta claimed to have worked with eleven separate fact-checking organizations.
According to Bharat Gupta, president of Misinformation Combat Alliance, the Deep Fakes Analysis Unit (DAU) will act as a crucial and prompt intervention to stop the spread of AI-enabled misinformation among social media and internet users.
Notably, people frequently spread false or misleading messages to others on social media platforms like WhatsApp, which has made disinformation a problem for these platforms. In an effort to solve this problem, Meta has eliminated phony accounts and cut down on forwards.
Additionally, Meta recently declared that it will label images created by AI on its networks, including Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Users will be able to tell the difference between photos that appear real and ones that are artificially created.