AI chatbot shows promise in talking people out of conspiracy theories
The imperturbable bot succeeds where humans usually fail, experiment
finds
- 12
Sep 2024
Personalized conversations with the “debunkbot” reduced people’s belief
in conspiracy theories for up to 2 months.PeopleImages/iStock
You might know someone who thinks the Moon landing was faked or COVID-19
vaccines are full of microchips. Believers cling tenaciously to such conspiracy
theories, which have little basis in reality, even when presented with contrary
evidence. But according to research published today in Science,
some people do change their minds when fact-based arguments are delivered by an
artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot instead of another human being.
Personalized conversations with this “debunkbot” can turn
even hardcore conspiracy theorists into budding skeptics, the researchers report.
“It’s really promising to see how AI can play a role in combating
misinformation and conspiracy theories,” says Jan-Willem van Prooijen, a
behavioral scientist at the Free University of Amsterdam who wasn’t involved in
the new study. Generative AI is notorious for spreading falsehoods, most
notably through the use of deepfakes, so Van Prooijen
finds it “refreshing” to see it used as a force for good.
Be it the belief that the CIA assassinated former President John F.
Kennedy or that Area 51 houses alien corpses, nearly half the U.S. population
believes in one conspiracy theory or another, according to some estimates. Many
psychologists think these beliefs help fulfill underlying psychological needs,
such as the desire for security. But hypotheses about such “subterranean
motivations” are hard to test, says Thomas Costello, a psychologist at American
University and lead author of the new study. The new findings provide “one of
the first really strong pieces of evidence that they’re not the whole story,”
he says, “or maybe, in fact, that they’re totally wrong.”
When debating conspiracies in real life, believers will often attempt to
overwhelm naysayers by quickly presenting as many arguments as possible—a
technique known as the Gish gallop. Whereas no human can address all those
claims at once, an AI program conceivably could. Costello and his colleagues
wanted to know whether large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4 Turbo, which
process and generate huge amounts of information in seconds, could debunk
conspiracy theories with what Costello describes as “tailored persuasions.”
The team recruited more than 2000 participants who professed a belief in
at least one conspiracy theory, which they define as the belief that important
events or situations—the Kennedy assassination or the COVID-19 pandemic—were
secretly orchestrated by powerful people or organizations. Next, they had these
people engage in a brief conversation with an LLM chatbot. Each person shared with the AI what they believed, the evidence they
felt supported it, and rated how confident they were that the theory was true.
The chatbot—trained on a wide range of publicly available information from
books, online discussions, and other sources—refuted each claim with specific,
fact-based counterarguments. These conversations reduced people’s confidence in
their conspiracy theories, on average, by 20%.
These reductions were remarkably persistent, lasting up to 2 months, and
appeared to work across a wide variety of theories. “The fact that it worked so
well for so long is what stood out to me,” says Ethan Porter, a political
scientist and disinformation researcher at George Washington University who
wasn’t involved in the study.
Part of the reason debunkbot is so successful, Van Prooijen reasons, is
that it remains “very polite,” whereas human conversations about similar topics
can easily get “heated and disrespectful.” And whereas someone might worry
about friends or family members judging them for altering their beliefs, it’s
impossible to “lose face” in front of an AI model, he adds.
When Costello and his colleagues repeated their experiment with a
chatbot that engaged with participants but didn’t formulate fact-based
counterarguments, they saw no effect, suggesting the presentation of evidence
was critical. “Without facts, it couldn’t do its job,” Costello says.
Still, the rhetoric involved may be critical to persuasion, says
Federico Germani, a disinformation researcher at the University of Zürich.
Because LLMs train on real conversations, he explains, they pick up on subtle
rhetorical strategies that make their arguments more persuasive, even when a
prompt has instructed them to rely purely on facts. “The authors are probably
underestimating that, in between the lines, the AI is very good at
manipulating,” he says.
Psychologists at the University of Kent, writing in a joint
statement, also question whether the findings upend the prevailing idea
that conspiracy theories fulfill unmet psychological needs. Aleksandra
Cichocka, Robbie Sutton, and Karen Douglas say in a joint
statement that because the study authors didn’t directly measure whether
participants felt their needs were satisfied after conversing with the chatbot,
it’s impossible to know whether that influenced their change of mind. Indeed,
subjects were still quite confident in their theories even after the AI tried
to debunk them, suggesting these underlying motivations still played a powerful
role in their beliefs.
Although conspiracy theorists are unlikely to engage with debunkbot
voluntarily, Germani and Van Prooijen note the AI could potentially bolster
existing technological responses. Many social media sites already have
strategies in place to flag potential misinformation, such as the Community
Notes feature on X, and this new model could provide additional information
refuting it.
People could also use debunkbot to quickly and thoroughly fact-check new
claims they’ve heard, cultivating a healthy level of skepticism and making it
less likely that they will fall down the misinformation rabbit hole in the
future, Costello notes. “You can almost think of these chatbots as a form of
epistemic hygiene,” he explains, “like brushing your teeth, but for your mind.”
The World According to Vladimir Putin
In just over two minutes, the animated short A Sad Little Fact asks tough questions about the future of truth itself. Do facts matter in a world where some politicians and pundits lie so regularly and without any accountability? The answer is—and must be—yes, but restoring a public debate grounded in truth is going to take time. And it’s going to require some challenging conversations.
There are big issues raised by this charming and accessible little short; questions that may not have simple answers. But with A Sad Little Fact, families, teachers, and friends have a new tool for starting a conversation that could not be more important.
Family
Guy
Peter
Griffin and
his family of two teenagers, a smart dog, a devilish baby and his wife find
themselves in some of the most hilarious scenarios
Picking up where the last episode left off, Brian and Stewie wonder what Meg
has been up to since staying behind with Ivan in Russia.
Although she enjoys her new life, she still misses some aspects of her old one,
such as the food and decreased censorship. Following a brief health scare, Ivan
refuses to be apart from Meg and proposes to her, which she accepts. However,
when Meg admits her sadness at how her family missed her wedding, Ivan suggests
that the two visit America for a proper goodbye. While walking away to call
them, she overhears her husband gloating about how he was only using her for a
green card marriage to get to the United States. As an act of revenge, Meg puts
out several tweets under Ivan's name, criticizing the Russian way of life and
getting him darted to death before walking out on him.
Meanwhile, Chris discovers that
there are no pictures of him in the Adam West High yearbook, due to his lack of
extracurriculars. At Lois' insistence, he tries out various clubs but none of
them suit him. During a porn break at home, he soon discovers that some videos
are shot at his own school, and he confronts Principal Shepherd about this.
Noting how badly-made the videos are, Chris offers his directing services to
help him improve it, in exchange for extracurricular credit. While the scheme
works out at first, Chris and Shepherd are soon caught by Lois, who reports
their actions to the school board. Chris talks everyone down by claiming that
the porn was done to offset a constantly shrinking school budget, and tells his
mother that doing this was good for him since he is now aware of skills he
didn't know he had. He nonetheless agrees to stop making porn, much to Lois'
relief. https://familyguy.fandom.com/wiki/Adult_Education
From
Russia With Love
Meg, Stewie and Brian go to Russia. April 30, 2023
Despite his family's indifference, Brian goes on Instagram Live to hold a
discussion about writing, but gains a very minuscule audience. Undeterred,
Brian soon discovers that he's eligible to become a verified user, but Stewie
notes that his new checkmark is green rather than blue, signifying that he's
been hacked. With Meg's help, the two discover that the hacker is based in
Chelyabinsk, Russia, and the trio agrees to head there to restore Brian's
account. There, they meet the hacker, named Ivan, who quickly starts to hit on
Meg. He also reveals that his life at home has been bleak, and that he only
hacked Brian's Instagram so he could feel like he was living a good, American
life. While the trio ultimately accomplishes their goal, Stewie and Brian are
shocked to learn that Meg has decided to stay behind with Ivan, knowing that
her unusual body is considered very attractive in Russia. The group parts ways,
although Meg continues to keep in touch with her family.
Meanwhile, Quagmire drops by and invites Peter and
Lois to a double date with a new woman he's met. The two agree, but Lois is
shocked to see that Quagmire is dating her junior high school bully, Stephanie,
who once pushed her into the water at a pool party back in the day. Stephanie
manages to hit it off with the others, but Lois is unable to get over her
middle school trauma, not helped by the humiliating stories being told about
her. She remains on edge throughout the rest of the evening and then has a
panic attack much like the ones she used to get, with even her body reverting
to its awkward, teenage form. Lois is diagnosed with Severe Nerd Damage and
must cope with it while attending a pool party at Joe's house; when she is
shoved into the pool again, she is convinced that Stephanie hasn't changed.
Stephanie reveals that she never bullied Lois and that the times she fell into
the pool were both accidents. In fact, Lois' childhood imperfections were
actually an inspiration for her, as she has since opened a foundation for kids
with scoliosis. https://familyguy.fandom.com/wiki/From_Russia_With_Love
BY SARAH MARGON
- Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington
Post columnist who wrote about the Saudi Crown Price, walked into
the Saudi Embassy in Ankara for a marriage license and never exited.
Instead, he was brutally murdered by Saudi security services.
- Myanmar’s military used Facebook to spread hate
and fuel a mass atrocity against the Rohingya people.
- A few U.S. lawmakers peddled the falsehood that
the Open Society Foundations paid protestors and migrants. These lies
directly inspired violence; pipe bombs were sent to homes of prominent
Democrats. Twelve Jews were murdered at a Pittsburgh Synagogue.
C4 commissions ground-breaking documentary series Putin: A Russian Spy Story
- By Philip
Pärnamets, Jay Van
Bavel on November 20, 2018
- أعرض
هذا باللغة العربية
FEBRUARY 1, 2020 8:56PM PT
How self-deception allows people to lie:
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220525-how-self-deception-allows-people-to-lie
‘The Optimism Bias: A
Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain’,
by Tali Sharot (Vintage, 2012)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11382184-the-optimism-bias
Community of shitposters
that ridicule and expose Russian disinformation
about the war in Ukraine, troll Russian diplomats and propagandists
Quick Calm Easy Meditations to Short-Circuit Stress Using Mindfulness and Neuroscience
Do you ever feel like your stress levels are off the charts? You aren’t alone. Every day it feels like there’s something new to juggle or a fresh crisis to avert. And just keeping everything in the air requires an exhausting amount of attention and a dizzying amount of responsibilities. The more chaotic life becomes, the more we tend to forget what we truly value—from family and friends to mental and physical health. Fortunately, there are things you can do to stay grounded that won’t eat away at your increasingly precious time.
Quick Calm is a practical and fun guidebook designed to fit perfectly into a fast-paced lifestyle. You’ll discover the what, why, and how of developing your own mindfulness practice. You’ll learn all about the essential, life-affirming benefits of this ancient practice, including mindfulness meditation’s positive effects on both mind and body. And, most importantly, you’ll find daily practices you can do in just five minutes a day!
So, if you’re ready to discover the gift of mindfulness, but you don’t have the time to attend a meditation retreat, set aside five minutes a day with this handy little guide. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better return on your time investment! : https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/54670255-quick-calm
Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain
Seven short essays
(plus a bite-sized story about how brains evolved) reveal lessons from
neuroscience research. Questions like these in any order:
1 where brains came from
2 how they’re structured (and why it matters)
3 how yours works in tandem with other brains to create everything you
experience
4 dismiss popular myths
5 idea of a “lizard brain”
6 the alleged battle between thoughts and emotions
7 between nature and nurture
1/2 to determine your behavior
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48930266-seven-and-a-half-lessons-about-the-brain
Rationality:
What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters
Steven Arthur Pinker
In Rationality,
Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are simply an irrational species
- cavemen out of time fatally cursed with biases, fallacies and illusions.
After all, we discovered the laws of nature, lengthened and enriched our lives
and set the benchmarks for rationality itself. Instead, he explains, we think
in ways that suit the low-tech contexts in which we spend most of our lives,
but fail to take advantage of the powerful tools of reasoning we have built up
over millennia: logic, critical thinking, probability, causal inference, and
decision-making under uncertainty. These tools are not a standard part of our
educational curricula, and have never been presented clearly and entertainingly
in a single book - until now.
Rationality matters. It leads to better choices in our lives and in the public
sphere, and is the ultimate driver of social justice and moral progress.
Brimming with insight and humour, Rationality will enlighten,
inspire and empower.
'A terrific book, much-needed for our time' Peter Singer https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56224080-rationality
Куклы пророческая серия. Путин 20 лет спустя
Мультфильм про Путина "Мальчиш Обнулиш"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyI93Gu81kM
Эхо гойды. Непризнанные референдумы
Кто взорвал потоки – "Заповедник", выпуск 234
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N34nZeVjlPk
Праздник военкома. Границы закрыты. Референдумы на отжатых территориях – "Заповедник", выпуск 233
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyV_1JbnW_s
Список Мединского. Культура отмены. Признаки военного положения в России – "Заповедник", выпуск 211
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