AI Sessions #8: Misinformation, Social Media, and Deepfakes (with Sacha Altay)

Henry and I chat with Dr Sacha Altay about:* How prevalent is misinformation?* What even is “misinformation”?* Is there a difference between politics and science?* How impactful are propaganda, influence campaigns, and advertising?* What impact has social media had on modern democracies?* How worried should we be about the impact of generative AI, including deepfakes, on the information environment?* The “liar’s dividend”* Whether ChatGPT is more accurate and less biased than the average politician, pundit, and voter. Links* Sacha Altay* “Misinformation Reloaded? Fears about the Impact of Generative AI on Misinformation are Overblown” Felix M. Simon, Sacha Altay, & Hugo Mercier * “Don’t Panic (Yet): Assessing the Evidence and Discourse Around Generative AI and Elections” Felix M. Simon & Sacha Altay * “The Media Very Rarely Lies” Scott Alexander * “How Dangerous is Misinformation?” Dan Williams* “Scapegoating the Algorithm” Dan Williams* “Is Social Media Destroying Democracy—Or Giving It To Us Good And Hard?” Dan Williams* “Not Born Yesterday: The Science of Who We Trust and What We Believe” Hugo Mercier* Joseph Uscinski* “Durably Reducing Conspiracy Beliefs Through Dialogues with AI” Thomas H. Costello, Gordon Pennycook, & David G. Rand* “The Levers of Political Persuasion with Conversational AI” Kobi Hackenburg, Ben M. Tappin, et al. * Ben TappinChapters* 00:00 Understanding Misinformation: Definitions and Prevalence* 04:22 The Complexity of Media Bias and Misinformation* 14:40 Human Gullibility: Misconceptions and Realities* 27:28 Selective Exposure and Demand for Misinformation* 29:49 Political Advertising: Efficacy and Misconceptions* 35:13 Social Media’s Role in Political Discourse* 40:50 Evaluating the Impact of Social Media on Society* 42:44 The Impact of Political Content on Social Media* 46:57 The Changing Landscape of Political Voices* 51:41 Generative AI and Its Implications for Misinformation* 01:03:46 The Liar’s Dividend and Trust in Media* 01:14:11 Personalization and the Role of Generative AITranscript* Please note that this transcript was edited by AI and may contain mistakes. Dan Williams: Okay, welcome back. I’m Dan Williams. I’m back with Henry Shevlin. And today we’re going to be talking about one of the most controversial, consequential topics in popular discourse, in academic research, and in politics, which is misinformation. So we’re going to be talking about how widespread is misinformation? Are we living through, as some people claim, a misinformation age, a post-truth era, an epistemic crisis?How impactful is misinformation and more broadly domestic and foreign influence campaigns? What’s the