AI systems are consuming false, misleading, and manipulated content from across the internet - and increasingly presenting it as authoritative answers to millions of users.
Excellent post however frightening it is. What strikes me is that many people of the younger generations do not engage in critical thinking so would never even question the AI summary at the top of search - or even know how to quickly check if what they are seeing is accurate.
There is past precedent for this kind of mass misinformation, consider: “It is not enough for people to be more or less reconciled to our regime, to be persuaded to adopt a neutral attitude towards us; rather we want to work on people until they are addicted to us, until they grasp ideologically that what is happening in [our nation] today not only MUST be accepted but also SHOULD be accepted.” — Joseph Goebbels address to German media on the “Public Enlightenment” objectives of his new Ministry of Propaganda
Thank you. You put my thoughts about the national Dem Party into words. I used to give my national party and its various subsets money all the time. About six months ago I stopped because I cannot “see” them and their work. I live in a Blue state and like my members of Congress (but not my Governor) and support them individually/monetarily. But not the National Party because I see nothing!
Really important piece, with important practical lessons. People now ask the machines everything (I use them for my research, but then go upstream to check real sources). Wikipedia is actually pretty carefully checked, but so much of the rest is misinformation and slop. So really important to get accurate perspectives out there.
The image of the iceberg is powerful because it reminds us that what looks like a single answer is actually the product of countless voices beneath the surface. That’s why publishing carefully, citing well, and showing up consistently matters more than ever. If we leave gaps, someone else will fill them. The information ecosystem is no longer just about being read by people—it’s also about becoming part of what machines learn to say.
The weaponization of information especially through the internet & social media is truly a nightmare that have made the numerous chaos agents dreams come true.
Excellent post however frightening it is. What strikes me is that many people of the younger generations do not engage in critical thinking so would never even question the AI summary at the top of search - or even know how to quickly check if what they are seeing is accurate.
Great article. Could not agree more - I wrote about this same issue only a few weeks back
https://elliotduff.substack.com/p/the-data-war-we-are-losing.
This war is real but unfortunately many are not paying attention.
Websites now have to be knowledge bases - not just repositories of PDF's.
I wrote this in response to the failure of Science to be Salient in Australia.
https://elliotduff.substack.com/p/the-salience-series
But as you point out this goes beyond that - into the political arena.
There is past precedent for this kind of mass misinformation, consider: “It is not enough for people to be more or less reconciled to our regime, to be persuaded to adopt a neutral attitude towards us; rather we want to work on people until they are addicted to us, until they grasp ideologically that what is happening in [our nation] today not only MUST be accepted but also SHOULD be accepted.” — Joseph Goebbels address to German media on the “Public Enlightenment” objectives of his new Ministry of Propaganda
Thank you. You put my thoughts about the national Dem Party into words. I used to give my national party and its various subsets money all the time. About six months ago I stopped because I cannot “see” them and their work. I live in a Blue state and like my members of Congress (but not my Governor) and support them individually/monetarily. But not the National Party because I see nothing!
Really important piece, with important practical lessons. People now ask the machines everything (I use them for my research, but then go upstream to check real sources). Wikipedia is actually pretty carefully checked, but so much of the rest is misinformation and slop. So really important to get accurate perspectives out there.
The image of the iceberg is powerful because it reminds us that what looks like a single answer is actually the product of countless voices beneath the surface. That’s why publishing carefully, citing well, and showing up consistently matters more than ever. If we leave gaps, someone else will fill them. The information ecosystem is no longer just about being read by people—it’s also about becoming part of what machines learn to say.
That fake news is not being created for free.
The weaponization of information especially through the internet & social media is truly a nightmare that have made the numerous chaos agents dreams come true.