Google tapping AI to combat fake news

Google is tapping AI and other deep-learning tools that can sift through data, including news items, and act on them without or with very minimal human intervention. (Photo: hd-tecnologia.com)

SINGAPORE—Tech behemoth Google on Sunday made an open call to organizations around the world to submit ideas on how AI or artificial intelligence can be used to combat the spread of fake news.

A Google engineer said the company is working on open-source tools to provide trend monitoring and clustering of data to aid fact-checkers, journalists and people in general in analyzing news information.

Google invited organizations and individuals to contribute to its AI Impact Challenge on Day 3 of the 2019 Trusted Media Summit for Asia-Pacific which the company is hosting until the 10 December.

AI and deep-learning tools are programs that can sift through data and act on them without or with very minimal human intervention.

In fact-checking primarily news items, Google said it wants AI to swiftly determine attribution, context, repetition, mutation, pattern and impact.

The goals are threefold: Quicker fact checks, more facts checked and more actions taken against fake news like taking them out of circulation in the Internet.

By deciding on open-source tools, Google wants to involve as many engineers and interested parties in developing, testing and tweaking AI technology to help those who want to check the veracity of information.

Specifically, the AI system in development would have the capability to detect personalities, claims or quotes being attributed to them, and to cluster similar data for easier referencing.

When finished, the AI system will also be capable of tracking news information and how they mutate and change as they spread, who are changing them, and what impact they are having.

The Summit, with Daily Tribune as a media partner, has brought together journalists, fact-checkers, tech resource persons like those from Google and Facebook and members of the academe.

On Saturday, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) said it is coming up with changes in accepting or keeping organizations accredited by it as fact-checkers.

At the sideline of the Summit, an IFCN source admitted “some issues” had been raised against accredited fact-checkers based in the Philippines.

The IFCN emphasized that its accredited fact-checkers must not be partisan so much so that IFCN check on the social media postings of personalities identified as members of fact-checking organizations.

Likewise, IFCN said it will push for more transparency on the funding and methodologies of its fact-checking organizations.

A number of fact-checking organizations in the Philippines had been called out by netizens for their alleged bias and partisanship as seen from the FB posting of their known officials and employees. (With Mario J. Mallari)