A global surge of misinformation – amplified by social media, AI fakery and organised disinformation campaigns – is corroding the foundations of democratic decision-making and public trust.

Arguably, the most dangerous pandemic ever to strike humanity is the plague of deliberate misinformation, mass delusion and unfounded belief which is engulfing 21st Century society.

Whether generated by governments, the fossil fuels lobby, corrupt media, corporate interests, the anti-science lobby, religious fanatics, extremist politicians and ideologues, well-meaning simpletons or nutcase conspiracists, a global deluge of utter nonsense is rapidly swallowing the human species.

The flood is aided and abetted by social media and augmented by the proliferation of AI fakery that is now drowning the Internet.

In the short run it may seem irritating, even occasionally entertaining. In the long run, it lays the ground for the failure of governments, the disintegration of business, the collapse of social order and – eventually – of civilisation itself, due to paralysis brought on by reliance on false data.

“The AI revolution has the potential to accelerate the existing chaos and dysfunction in the world’s information ecosystem, supercharging mis- and disinformation campaigns and undermining the fact-based public discussions required to address urgent major threats like nuclear war, pandemics, and climate change,” warn the authors of the Doomsday Clock.

The uses of AI to generate falsehood “have revolutionised the landscape of false information, allowing for the automation of misinformation production and its widespread........

© Pearls and Irritations