Everywhere you turn, people are worried about fake news. But the scale of the problem is mind-blowing. With almost 4 billion of us online, the potential for lies and misinformation to spread is basically unlimited. And even if you don’t set out to share fake news, studies show we’re all vulnerable to amplifying it!
That’s bad enough, but get this: a groundbreaking study revealed that fake news spreads FASTER and reaches MORE people than the truth! It’s a massive challenge, but thankfully, AI is getting smarter by the day when it comes to tackling fake news.
Here are some tools recommended by Sebastiaan van der Lans. They are always changing, merging and disappearing, so do your own research.
- The Factual: This app, website, newsletter, and extension rate the credibility of thousands of stories daily. They look at the site’s history, the writer’s reputation, and more for a trustworthiness score. https://www.thefactual.com/
- Check by Meedan: Partnering with WhatsApp and Facebook, this non-profit’s AI helps debunk trending misinformation on major platforms. It even allows direct fact-checker contact for concerned users. [invalid URL removed]
- Logically: A free app and extension using AI to analyze claims, opinions, and breaking events across MILLIONS of online sources. It’s part automated, part human-powered for maximum accuracy. https://www.logically.ai/
- Full Fact: A veteran in the space since 2009, their AI helps fact-checkers prioritize what’s important, and they’re even working on spotting deliberate, repeated lies. https://fullfact.org/
- Grover: This one can actually generate fake news convincingly… to better detect it! While the power is worrisome, the creators aim to fight the fakers, not join them. https://grover.allenai.org/
- Sensity AI: Deepfakes are next-level fraud, and Sensity AI is designed to expose them. As deepfakes get more sophisticated, this could be crucial for protecting reputations and preventing false reporting. https://sensity.ai/
- ClaimBuster: Ever wish you could fact-check your own writing? This tool does just that, showing you similar published claims and their fact-check ratings. https://idir.uta.edu/claimbuster/
- Blackbird AI: It touts itself as ‘deception detection’, spotting misleading narratives early, a powerful tool for governments and organizations under attack. https://blackbird.ai/
- Bot Sentinel: Bots are notorious for spreading fake news. This AI-powered tool hunts them down on Twitter specifically, rating accounts for bot-like behavior with impressive accuracy. https://botsentinel.com/
The Bottom Line: AI plays on both teams. Use it for good!
The internet’s too big for humans alone to tackle this. Just as AI is being used by our enemies to undermine The American Way, it can also spot patterns, trends, and subtle deceptions faster than any team of fact-checkers ever could. While the war on fake news isn’t won yet, these tools are promising, giving us hope that truth has a brighter future online.
