Misinformation has always been an issue, accelerated by the internet and social media—but in the age of AI, it’s particularly tricky to know if what you’re reading or seeing is real or not. "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth can get its pants on. And that has definitely been accelerated by the age of AI," Miles Taylor, Chief Policy Officer with The Future US, tells CBS News. So how can you spot obvious misinformation, especially during such politically divisive times? Here’s what the experts say.
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Use the SIFT Method
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The SIFT strategy from digital literacy expert Mike Caulfield can help you spot misinformation. Here are four easy steps to follow when you come across news or information you aren’t sure about.
- S: Stop
- I: Investigate the source
- F: Find better coverage
- T: Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context
Human or AI?
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Look for specific red flags in online content. Is there an actual human with a byline behind the piece, or AI? “There was an interesting recent study that said the number of what the researchers call ‘pink slime news sites,’ which are funded by partisans and increasingly populated by generative artificial intelligence, has outpaced the number of local newspapers in the United States,” says Matthew Jordan, professor of film production and media studies in the Penn State Bellisario College of Communications. “You don't know who is funding these sites, oftentimes the articles don't have a byline, and they tend to be very critical of one side and puff about the other side. These sites are so easy to create now with ChatGPT. There's a group called NewsGuard that looks at these sites, and they have found that the articles often leave the ChatGPT question prompts in the story. So, there are no humans involved here, and these sites pop up like Whack-a-Mole.”
Be Wary With Your Phone
ShutterstockResearch shows people are more likely to believe misinformation when accessing it on their phones vs a desktop computer or television. “In general, people spend less time processing information when using their mobile phones compared to computers,” says S. Shyam Sundar, Evan Pugh University Professor and the James P. Jimirro Professor of Media Effects in the Penn State Bellisario College of Communications. “This makes them more likely to be swayed by simple cues on the interface, such as an authority source or bandwagon metrics like number of likes and retweets.”
Be Skeptical of Headlines
ShutterstockWatch out for all-caps screaming headlines. “False news stories often have catchy headlines in all caps with exclamation points,” warns the Citizens Clean Elections Commission. “If shocking claims in the headline sound unbelievable, they probably are.
Check the URL
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Double check the link to make sure you’re looking at a real website and not an imitation. “A phony or look-alike link may be a warning sign of false news,” says the Citizens Clean Elections Commission. “Many false news sites mimic authentic news sources by making small changes to the link. You can go to the site to compare the link to established sources.”
Don’t Fall For Rage Bait
ShutterstockIf you’re looking at something that makes you furious, take a second and slow down before sharing the link. A lot of content is generated to make you mad (rage bait) so take a moment to make sure it’s actually real before sharing.
Check Other Reports
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Is this piece of news or information backed up by other sites? “If no other news source is reporting the same story, it may indicate that the story is false,” says the Citizens Clean Elections Commission. “If the story is reported by multiple sources you trust, it's more likely to be true.”
A Whole New World
ShutterstockAsk yourself if your own confirmation bias might make you more vulnerable to misinformation—many people will believe something simply because they want to. "They'll blow past whether or not that information is actually true because if it validates what they already believe, they're going to take it as gospel and they're going to spread it," Taylor says, comparing AI to the old email scams. "These are the Nigerian princes in our inboxes asking us to wire $10,000. Now, most of us see an email like that today and say 'yea, that's crazy, that's SPAM. I'm not going to do it.' But if someone's able to deepfake the sound of a loved one or a candidate you trust or a local official, you might be deceived. And that's what we've got to get ahead of, we've got to prepare for that world we're going into."
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