Google uses prebunking to debunk misinformation before it spreads

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Prebunking is a several years old concept and is based on inoculation theory. Instead of simply trying to debunk misinformation that’s already gone viral, the idea is to give people tips on how to spot the kind of misinformation they’re likely to encounter, so they’re prepared to be less susceptible to it. Think of it as a psychological vaccine, in this case, administered via ads on platforms including Google’s YouTube, as well as Facebook and TikTokh: here’s an example from Poland, which attempts to steer people away from the false but fast-moving narrative that refugees Ukrainians are treated. better than Polish citizens.

But wait, isn’t it just media literacy that teaches people how to be more critical consumers of information? Not quite, according to Cambridge University’s Jon Roozenbeek, who was one of the academics who came up with the concept of prebunking and who later worked with Google’s Jigsaw division to develop tools to implement it.

For one thing, he told me in conversation today, prebunking is more likely to reach people who are outside the education system. It’s also designed to be more lighthearted. The challenge is: how to get people to care about how to identify harmful or disinforming content without feeling patronized or talked about? Roozenbeek told me. Harnessing humor is a good way to do this.

The approach holds promise, Roozenbeek said, but he also cautioned that we shouldn’t see it as a panacea.

Individual-level interventions like prebunking and media literacy programs need to be iterated frequently, or people forget what to look for, while system-level interventions like the EU’s upcoming Digital Services Act, which will force Big Tech to tackle disinformation, have a much greater effect, he said. .

However, there is a trade-off, as those system-level interventions are also the ones that carry the greatest risk. Facebook could clean its platform of all misinformation if it wanted to, Roozenbeek said, but doing so would also remove a lot of content that isn’t misinformation, raising big free speech issues. If you expose someone, none of their rights are violated. If I show someone a YouTube ad explaining to them how a false dichotomy works, again, no harm, he noted.

All of this is cutting-edge stuff, concocted to address an urgent and visible problem. But what happens when machine-generated disinformation becomes more prevalent? Roozenbeek believes there is the potential for bots to become less easily identifiable as bots as they are integrated with generative AI systems such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and will again require new solutions if and when that happens.

I don’t think prebunking or media literacy helps much [in such a scenario], because there has to be a particular skill you want people to acquire for that to be effective, Roozenbeek said. You can’t do this for content that doesn’t have markers you can collect on.

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David Mayer

Data Sheets’ daily news section was written and edited by Andrea Guzman.

NEWS

More tech layoffs may be on the horizon. For multiple Meta teams, budgets have yet to be finalized, leaving some employees speculating they may be laid off soon. Staffers told the Financial Times little work was being completed amid the uncertainty. The year of efficiency is starting with a group of people getting paid for doing nothing, one worker told the FT. Meanwhile, Twilio executives held a meeting right before the Super Bowl, reports Insider. It’s an unusual move that is causing some employees to worry about possible layoffs.

Meet Po. Social Q&A platform Quora has produced a chatbot known as Poe. The tool isn’t named after the poet or Teletubbyland, but it provides a platform for open exploration. It can use ChatGPT and Anthropics Claude to provide instant answers, and Wired spoke with Quora cofounder and CEO Adam DAngelo, who also sits on the board of the nonprofit arm of OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT. While Poe’s answers may not be perfect, DAngelo is optimistic that AI will continue to improve.

Uber is geared towards the cloud. The ride-hailing company has signed deals with Google Cloud and Oracle that will allow it to move away from its data centers and move to the cloud, according to the Wall Street Journal. Uber currently runs 95% of its IT infrastructure within its own data centers, an approach that has left the company vulnerable to delays in obtaining new equipment during the pandemic’s supply chain crisis. Financial terms of the seven-year cloud deals are not disclosed.

FOOD FOR THOUGHTS

Not such early risers. While TikToker and books like The 5AM Club proclaim that there are benefits to waking up early like getting exercise and catching up on emails before work, others don’t. Fortune spoke to more than a dozen CEOs who dismissed the narrative that getting up early prompts you to be more productive.

From the article:

Jessica Alderson, CEO of dating app So Syncd, usually goes to bed between 2am and 3am and wakes up around 9am

Though the business world idolizes early risers, some CEOs are more productive as night owls, and I include myself in that category, he said.

IN CASE YOU MISSED

Kevin O’Leary says likely to invest in ChatGPT maker OpenAI and compares its disruptive power to the Amazons, by Steve Mollman

This CEO Says An Affordable Meditation App Is Key To Staying Calm And Feeling Refreshed In Times Of Stress, by Fortune Editors

Twitter Culture Shift After Elon Musk Takeover Is Dramatic: A Ghost Town Slack, Terrible Coffee, and Jobs Are Full on Weekdays, by Prarthana Prakash

How much would the richest people in America pay in Biden’s billion-dollar tax? It’s Complicated, by Alicia Adamczyk

Hybrid working makes people better at their jobs, from commuting to busy work. But Companies Don’t Do It Right, by Trey Williams

Elon Musk once again warns that Twitter will remove corrupt legacy blue checks despite its disastrous implementation of paid verification, by Azure Gilman

PayPal just put its plan to release a stablecoin on hold after reporting its partner is under investigation amid a broader crypto crackdown, by Ben Weiss

BEFORE YOU GO

Tesla’s strange Super Bowl moment. Tesla didn’t run an ad during Sunday’s Super Bowl, but the electric car maker did appear in one of the premium-priced commercials. A Super Bowl ad from Project Dawn called for a ban on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature. Green Hills Software CEO Dan ODowd spent $600,000 on the ad that showed a Tesla hitting a mannequin and stroller and going over no-entering signs. While Tesla has threatened the Dawn Project with legal action in the past, Elon Musk, who has been in the game, has acted indifferent, tweeting that the announcement will greatly raise public awareness that a Tesla can drive itself (for now supervised).

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