Half of the world's population will vote in elections in 2024. Many have already done so. This has raised concerns about fairness and election integrity, especially given the expansion of generative AI. global tracker has already identified dozens of cases this 12 months by which AI-generated misinformation was utilized in elections.
An example of this was in January, when the residents of New Hampshire automatic call to impersonate US President Joe Biden. AI platforms equivalent to Eleven laboratories can produce convincing reproductions of any voice. In response, the US Federal Communications Commission has effectively Ban on AI-generated robocalls.
However, banning AI-generated content is difficult, if not not possible. Speaking of In his statement on concerns about misinformation and generative AI in elections, Australia's Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers acknowledged the risks but additionally stressed that so-called “prebunking” is a necessary a part of stopping misinformation.
So what’s prebunking and the way does it help protect election integrity?
What is prebunking?
Prebunking is comparable to debunking, but because the name suggests, it occurs before false information is received.
Prebunking relies on the concept psychological vaccination. When we anticipate misinformation and the tactics used, we are able to higher discover it. Much like a vaccination, prebunking gives your brain the power to acknowledge disinformation tactics.
Social psychologist Sander Van der Linden and his colleagues have developed a game that Bad news to higher discover these tactics. Players act as a fake news tycoon who has quarter-hour to achieve followers without losing credibility.
Studies Playing “Bad News” for quarter-hour improves an individual’s ability and confidence to acknowledge misinformation.
The Long-term effectiveness stays to be seen. What these studies do show, nevertheless, is that knowing about disinformation tactics makes it easier to identify them. And unfortunately, they’re all too common.
Tactics at hand
For example, in the course of the “Voice to Parliament” referendum last 12 months, Liberal National Party Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said that the Australian Electoral Commission polling stations had the outcomes are manipulated. In the polling stations that were held in one other location, the bulk voted “yes”. This example shows each attempts to construct a conspiracy and to discredit the electoral commission.
Earlier this 12 months, the Tasmanian Liberal Party attempted to mimic Jacqui Lambie’s party. In 2019, the Liberal Party was also authorized Signs in Chinese were designed to appear like official Election Commission signs, each of that are examples of identity fraud.
Labour has also used this tactic prior to now. In 2022, the party will claims The cashless debit card is being prolonged to pensioners. And in 2016 and 2022 there have been the infamous Mediscare campaignwhich claimed there have been secret plans to denationalise Medicare. Both campaigns used conspiracy theories and appealed to emotions.
Prebunking ensures that voters will be vigilant. Unlike debunking, prebunking gives voters the chance to discover potential deception and manipulation. In March 2022, the Election Commission launched a Disinformation Register to tackle political misinformation within the 2022 election. The focus is on disinformation that undermines electoral integrity and trust in Australian democracy. To help voters, the AEC has also been helping them understand disinformation. tactics.
The Electoral Commission's attempts to prejudge election results make no comment on the misinformation that misleads voters about candidates and policies. The recent election has shown that misinformation tactics are as common as a cane toad in Australian elections. And just as ugly.
But what about exposure?
Exposure can Effective to stop people from believing misinformation.
However, this isn’t effective if people have reasons to just accept misinformation as true. Put more simply, existing attitudes influence an individual's evaluation of latest information and determine whether the knowledge is fake or misleading. People consider what they need to consider.
In addition, some persons are very mistrust media, and this attitude reinforces hostility towards fact-checkers, who of their eyes act as propagandists.
Repeated exposure to false claims can lead people to consider them. After all, we only use 10% of our brain. Just kidding! This statistic about brain usage is a typical example of false allegations turn into recognized knowledge.
Studies have shown that repeated exposure to misinformation can reinforce false and inaccurate beliefs, even when the stories point to the falsehood.
A little bit of each
Unfortunately, pre-exposure, like exposure, isn’t a panacea. Both show some effectiveness.
Prebunking can assist people detect manipulation. Unlike debunking, prebunking provides a framework for skeptics to stay vigilant without resorting to conspiracies. Prebunking allows people to look at the motivations of the persuaders. In this fashion, it builds cognitive abilities.
However, previous research suggests that prebunking effects short-lived. One possible factor explaining this could possibly be that participants spent enough time engaging with pre-bunking materials to lead to a habit.
In contrast, while debunking is useful, its impact is more pronounced amongst those that already consider and trust that fact-checkers usually are not a part of a government conspiracy. Proof suggests that repeated exposure to corrected information can result in attitude changes over time.
Cognitive psychology shows that “belief updating” occurs when beliefs and attitudes are weighed against recent information. Known as Bayesian inferenceThis process involves taking recent information and assessing the extent to which it reflects existing beliefs.
An example of this update is climate change. In 2012 64% of Australians surveyed believed climate change was real. In 2021, that number rose to 81%. Over time, the Australian population has updated its views on climate change. This is probably going due at the very least partly to a mixture of bias and refutation.
Although the subsequent federal election is unlikely to be until 2025, prebunking can construct confidence in voters' ability to identify misinformation. Fortunately, these easy techniques are easy to identify, so ten months before the subsequent election gives loads of time to practice.
