Dave Fanning, an Irish television presenter, encountered an unpleasant surprise when he opened the news aggregator MSN. He was confronted with a headline featuring his own image linked to a fabricated sexual harassment court case. This incident wasn’t just a simple error; an AI tool named ePiphany, developed by BNN (Breaking News Network), was responsible for selecting Fanning’s photo to accompany an article about an unidentified accused host from another news story.
The AI’s mishap was highlighted in a revelatory article by The New York Times, which exposed BNN’s use of artificial intelligence to churn out thousands of counterfeit articles daily, publishing multiple stories every minute. These articles were frequently fraught with factual inaccuracies.
BNN, established by Indian-American entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal in 2022, appeared to be a standard news site promising a “revolution in journalism” with 10 million monthly readers and a team of seasoned journalists. However, the truth revealed a spam site employing AI and low-cost labor, hiring freelance journalists from countries such as Pakistan and Nigeria to feed existing news to the ePiphany tool which would then create rewritten content. At first, journalists believed they were part of a legitimate newsroom, but as the volume of content grew, the ability to review each article diminished and the quality of the news suffered.
Artificial intelligence has been utilized to clog search engines with spam, manipulating SEO to catapult poor-quality invented news to the top of search results and generate significant advertising revenue. This has prompted actions from companies like Google, which has committed to reducing spam in search results.
The exploitation of AI in journalism led to legal action: Dave Fanning sued BNN and Microsoft, which owns MSN, for defamation in January, as reported by Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ. Meanwhile, BNN’s website now directs to an AI tool, and its presence in Google’s search results has been notably diminished after Google’s algorithm update.
Challenges and Controversies:
One of the key challenges with the use of artificial intelligence in journalism is ensuring the accuracy and authenticity of content generated by AI tools. In the case mentioned above, the lack of proper oversight and the prioritization of quantity over quality resulted in serious reputation damage to individuals like Dave Fanning due to erroneous reporting. The controversy also highlights the ethical implications of using AI in journalism and the potential for spreading misinformation.
The incident involving Irish presenter Dave Fanning illustrates how AI tools, like the ePiphany developed by BNN, can result in unintended consequences. Fanning’s case raises important questions about the accountability of AI application in news generation, the processes behind verifying the sources and images used, and the potential for harm to people’s reputations.
Legal Action:
The legal action taken by Dave Fanning against BNN and Microsoft, as mentioned in the article, raises an important discussion about liability and defamation in the digital age. Who is responsible when AI creates content that is defamatory or incorrect? This is a complex legal question that jurisdictions around the world are grappling with as AI becomes increasingly integrated into content creation.
Advantages of AI in Journalism:
– AI can process large volumes of data faster than humans, which can be useful in reporting on complex issues.
– It can assist in the rapid generation of news content, potentially increasing the timeliness of news reports.
Disadvantages of AI in Journalism:
– AI may inadvertently create or spread misinformation and has the potential for defamation, as seen with Dave Fanning’s case.
– The overreliance on AI can result in the loss of journalistic integrity and erosion of public trust in news sources.
– Difficulties in distinguishing between human-generated and AI-generated content can lead to confusion and misinformation.
For further information about artificial intelligence and its applications, readers might want to visit the main websites of reputable organizations like OpenAI at OpenAI or the Partnership on AI at Partnership on AI. As always, links provided are valid as per the latest verification, but URLs can change or become outdated over time.
The source of the article is from the blog regiozottegem.be