DIGITAL LIFE

Statement from IPIE and FCH indicates content generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) that had a negative impact on information this year

Content generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI), that is, videos, voices, images and texts had a negative impact on information this year, concluded the majority of experts consulted in a study by IPIE - International Panel on the Information Environment.

According to a statement from IPIE and FCH-Católica, a member of the panel, the report includes the participation of more than 400 media and information experts from more than 60 countries and "highlights the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology on information content ", and "the vast majority of experts (63%) believe that AI-generated videos, voices, images and text will negatively impact the global information environment by 2024."

In the same note, it is read that "more than two thirds (67%) of experts are concerned about the growing impact of AI technologies in the next five years".

This study also shows "a growing concern", they indicated, highlighting that, "while just over half (54%) of experts predicted a worsening of conditions in the information environment in 2023, the number now rises in 2024 to 63%, with concern is particularly pronounced in countries in the Southern Hemisphere, where three-quarters of experts (75%) express strong pessimism regarding the future of the information environment".

The panel's experts also named "social media platform owners as the biggest threat to the information environment, followed by domestic and foreign governments, politicians, and political parties."

On the other hand, "three-quarters (77%) of researchers are concerned about the ability to understand future challenges or create good public policies, due to little access to data for research", with the study still concluding for the "critical need to greater transparency and data availability".

"The results of the 2024 study reflect a growing consensus among the global community of researchers about the deteriorating state of the information environment," according to the statement, adding that "the challenges posed by AI and digital technologies are substantial, but there is also hope for that advances in these areas can be used to promote better information practices".

For Nelson Ribeiro, Director of FCH-Católica and specialist in media and advertising, member of IPIE, the data necessary to advance "in understanding the information environment are not only inaccessible, they are barricaded by private networks and corporate barriers".

"Until independent researchers have access, we will remain in the dark, and our research will continue to fall short of the critical insights we so desperately need," he lamented, adding that "without transparency and open data, the development of effective policies to combat harm from misinformation will continue to be an uphill battle."

IPIE is an independent, global scientific organization, based in Switzerland, that aims to provide the most practical scientific knowledge about threats to the world's information environment.

mundophone