AI-Generated Disinformation Spreads Globally as Tech Platforms Struggle to Respond
Freely available AI tools accelerate the spread of fake news and deepfakes, prompting experts to debate solutions like automated moderation. However, financial incentives on social media platforms continue to fuel the problem.
Freely available AI tools cause disinformation to spread rapidly across the globe, creating a major crisis for online platforms. Surveys show that 85% of people worry about online falsehoods, and the World Economic Forum identifies AI disinformation as a top global risk. Recent examples include bot networks targeting U.S. elections, a deepfake voicemail of President Joe Biden, and fake videos of political candidates in South Asia that incite real-world violence.
Pamela San Martín, co-chair of Meta’s Oversight Board, argues that AI itself serves as a necessary tool to fight this growing threat. She explains that AI systems already handle most content moderation by flagging posts for human review or automatically applying warnings and down-ranking false material. Although she admits current AI makes mistakes, such as incorrectly flagging historical museum posts, she believes the technology improves over time and becomes highly effective against disinformation.
Despite the potential of AI moderation, critics point out that social media platforms actively undermine these efforts by financially rewarding viral falsehoods. Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, warns that revenue-sharing programs on platforms like X pay users thousands of dollars for posts containing conspiracy theories and AI-generated images. He argues that these financial incentives create a perpetual machine of disinformation that threatens the foundation of modern democracies.