Nieman Lab: “…Our team of researchers from the Stanford Internet Observatory and Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology investigated over 100 Facebook pages that posted high volumes of AI-generated content. We published the results in March 2024 as a preprint paper, meaning the findings have not yet gone through peer review. We explored patterns of images, unearthed evidence of coordination between some of the pages, and tried to discern the likely goals of the posters. Page operators seemed to be posting pictures of AI-generated babies, kitchens, or birthday cakes for a range of reasons. There were content creators innocuously looking to grow their followings with synthetic content; scammers using pages stolen from small businesses to advertise products that don’t seem to exist; and spammers sharing AI-generated images of animals while referring users to websites filled with advertisements, which allow the owners to collect ad revenue without creating high-quality content. Our findings suggest that these AI-generated images draw in users — and Facebook’s recommendation algorithm may be organically promoting these posts…”
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Category Archives: Social Media
Data-Hungry Dating Apps Are Worse Than Ever for Your Privacy
Mozilla Report – Privacy Not Included: “When we reviewed dating apps for the first time back in 2021, they did not do well against our privacy and security criteria. This time, our research shows they’ve gotten even worse for your privacy. And in 2024, the stakes are much higher. Dating apps claim the more personal… Continue Reading
It’s not just you: Reddit is taking over Google
Business Insider [no paywall]: If you think you’ve been seeing an awful lot more Reddit results lately when you search on Google, you’re not imagining things. The internet is in upheaval, and for website owners the rules of “winning” Google Search have never been murkier. Google’s generative AI search engine is coming from one direction.… Continue Reading
The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet afloat
The Verge: “…The world’s emails, TikToks, classified memos, bank transfers, satellite surveillance, and FaceTime calls travel on cables that are about as thin as a garden hose. There are about 800,000 miles of these skinny tubes crisscrossing the Earth’s oceans, representing nearly 600 different systems, according to the industry tracking organization TeleGeography. The cables are… Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 13, 2024
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 13, 2024 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex… Continue Reading
Journalistic interventions matter: Understanding how Americans perceive fact-checking labels
Misinformation Review: “While algorithms and crowdsourcing have been increasingly used to debunk or label misinformation on social media, such tasks might be most effective when performed by professional fact checkers or journalists. Drawing on a national survey (N = 1,003), we found that U.S. adults evaluated fact-checking labels created by professional fact checkers as more… Continue Reading
96% of US hospital websites share visitor info with Meta, Google, data brokers
The Register: “Hospitals – despite being places where people implicitly expect to have their personal details kept private – frequently use tracking technologies on their websites to share user information with Google, Meta, data brokers, and other third parties, according to research published today. Academics at the University of Pennsylvania analyzed a nationally representative sample… Continue Reading
Tracking AI-enabled Misinformation
“To date, NewsGuard’s team has identified 794 Unreliable AI-Generated News and information websites, labeled “UAINS,” spanning 16 languages: Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, and Turkish. These websites typically have generic names, such as iBusiness Day, Ireland Top News, and Daily Time Update, which to a… Continue Reading
How to Stop Your Data From Being Used to Train AI
Wired: “If you’ve ever posted something to the internet—a pithy tweet, a 2009 blog post, a scornful review, or a selfie on Instagram—it has most likely been slurped up and used to help train the current wave of generative AI. Large language models, like ChatGPT, and image creators are powered by vast reams of our… Continue Reading
How to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile Using AI
MakeUseOf: “Crafting an enticing summary or heading on your LinkedIn profile can be the key to grabbing the attention of potential employers. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) can help. Let’s walk through the features within the LinkedIn app, along with other programs you can use to improve your LinkedIn profile.” Continue Reading
2024 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Resource Guide
“The 2024 theme asks all of us—friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues, community leaders, victim service providers, criminal justice practitioners, and health professionals—how we can help crime victims. Are you prepared if someone confides in you about a victimization? Is your organization victim-centered and trauma-informed? Are you familiar with the services available in your community? The… Continue Reading
Which conspiracy theories do Americans believe?
A new “YouGov survey finds that most Americans — 54% — believe that Lee Harvey Oswald definitely or probably did not act alone in assassinating John F. Kennedy in 1963. Large shares of Americans, though fewer than half, also believe other unfounded claims, including that Barack Obama was not born in the United States (31%)… Continue Reading
