AI Detectors and Social Media: Combating Misinformation and Deepfakes

In the 1980s, some people believed the world would be perfectly educated if everyone had immediate access to limitless information. The massive amount of social media misinformation proves this theory was wrong. 

Sadly, AI is making the problem worse than ever. Therefore, AI detectors will be essential for fighting fake news and astroturfing. They can be very effective, especially if the creators don’t edit AI-generated text. 

AI is Exacerbating Issues with Fake News and Deepfakes on Social Media: How? 

Fake news has been a problem on social media for a long time. Around 67% of people acknowledge seeing fake news on Facebook or other social networks. 

The real number is probably much higher since some people are not astute enough to identify misinformation.

Scammers, political propagandists, and trolls are using AI to make the problem even worse.  

One study found that the number of deepfake scams on social media increased by 10 between 2022 and 2023. 

This is around the time AI became readily available to the masses. Over 500,000 deepfake images and videos were shared in 2023 alone.

Some people have fallen for some incredibly brazen scams driven by AI. One woman in France recently fell tricked into divorcing her husband. She sent over $1 million to a scammer using AI-generated photos of Brad Pitt.

These types of scams will keep getting worse as more hackers take advantage of AI technology. Generative AI is extremely effective these days. 

It is going to keep getting better. It is a dream come true for bad actors trying to exploit vulnerable people on social media.

AI Detectors Are Going to Be Crucial for Stopping Deepfakes and Misinformation: Is It So? 

There are several things that people need to do to avoid getting scammed by AI-generated content and images. One of the most important things they should do is use AI detection software.

So, what is an AI detector?

The entire design of an AI detector is a program to distinguish AI-generated text from that written by humans. 

These detectors get trained on massive data sets of AI-generated and human-written content. As they analyze this content, they become better at flagging text and images made with AI.

Here are some of the ways that AI detectors can tell if it is an AI-written text:

• They look for common words used in content made with generative AI tools. These words include “delve,” “elevate,” and “leverage.” AI will easily flag the content that uses these words frequently.
• The AI detector program helps to look for unpredictable ideas. These programs are trained on many of the same types of content as generative AI tools. 

They can see that content made with AI tends to have ideas and structures. The AI detectors will easily detect and flag such contents.

• Content made with AI tends to have a uniform structure throughout the document. Sentences tend to have the same length and use the same types of clauses. 

Therefore, AI detectors are likelier to flag content as AI-generated if they don’t see much variation in the document’s structure.

The Role of AI Image Detectors

AI image detectors use different but similar methods. These image detectors can tell if images are generated with AI or not by taking the following steps:

• They look for pixel irregularities. The detectors are more likely to flag an image as AI-generated if there are differences in contrast and sharpness throughout the image.
• They see if people cloned large portions of the image from other images on the Internet.
• Moreover, they examine the EXIF data, which shows patterns unique to AI-generated images.

AI detectors are becoming better at identifying visual and written content made with AI.

More People Are Going to Use AI Detectors as Deepfakes and Fake News Increases

Fake news and deepfakes are already a huge problem on social media. Unfortunately, they will worsen, especially since AI is more widely available than ever.

Fortunately, these days, AI detectors are easily accessible to the average person. Many of them are free, although there are often restrictions on the free services. 

For example, one major AI detector only allows users to scan documents with up to 1,200 words without paying for a premium subscription. 

People need to actually use AI detectors if they want to identify fake news and other types of misinformation they encounter on social media. Here are some things people should do when deciding whether to use one:

• They should consider whether the content has an agenda. They should be suspicious if the content design is to get people to send money or focuses on pushing a political message. 
• The AI detectors should try to set aside their own biases. Moreover, they shouldn’t rule out the possibility that content is AI-generated misinformation just because they want to believe it. 
• Furthermore, they should consider the credibility of the source. You can trust the major news sites and widely known experts (such as the head of a government health organization). Less well-known sites may not.

People should consider using AI detectors to weed out this type of content. They may find there is a lot more AI-generated misinformation than they thought. 

The Laws And Legislatures That Help to Combat! 

When it comes to deepfakes, the legal ground shows a lot more complexities! 

Copyright, the right of publicity, section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, and the torts of defamation, false light, and intentional infliction of emotional distress—These frameworks help to combat deepfakes and misinformation on social media platforms. 

These laws and acts explicitly address deepfakes. The laws categorize deepfakes based on their risks, such as malicious uses, legitimate artistic expression, etc. 

Moreover, the laws should also establish a very clear liability mechanism. This liability mechanism would hold the creators and platforms accountable for the malicious crime. This process would also consider intent knowledge and potential harm.  

Wrapping It Up! 

Deep down, we all know that technological deepfakes and AI detection solutions may not be able to prevent them from being distributed. As for the legal remedies, they can only be applied after the entire fact. 

So, public awareness is the only way we can spread the word about how deepfakes and AI-generated misinformation can be harmful.

The fight against the false media is uniting all kinds of sophisticated tools. As responsible citizens, we must take part effectively. This can at least reduce the flow of AI-generated misinformation or deepfake and focus on creating a better community.

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