For now many fakes are easy to spot. But audiences could find it increasingly difficult to tell fact from fiction as tech improves
Misinformation, turbocharged by AI, was hard to avoid in the hours and days that followed the Bondi beach terror attack, as some platforms pushed dubious claims to users trying to find factual information.
The X “for you” page, which serves up content determined by an algorithm, was filled with false details, including: that the attack that left 15 people dead was a psyop or false-flag operation; that those behind the attack were IDF soldiers; that those injured were crisis actors; that an innocent person was one of the alleged attackers; and that the Syrian Muslim hero who fought the attackers was a Christian with an English name.
Generative AI only made matters worse.
An altered clip of the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, with deepfaked audio making false claims about the attackers, was shared across multiple accounts.
In another particularly egregious example, an AI-generated image based on an actual photo of the victims was altered to suggest he was a crisis actor having red makeup applied to his face to look like blood.
“I saw these images as I was being prepped to go into surgery today and will not dignify this sick campaign of lies and hate with a response,” the man depicted in the fake image, human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky, later posted on X.
Pakistan’s information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said his country had been the...
For now many fakes are easy to spot. But audiences could find it increasingly difficult to tell fact from fiction as tech improves Misinformation, turbocharged by AI, was hard to avoid in the hour...