Fighting Fake News with Artificial Intelligence -By Fishon Amos

In recent years, the world has been witnessing a surge in the spread of fake news, and conspiracy theories, with some describing it as an epidemic that will consume the world if not well curtailed. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country has its fair share in this epidemic of fake news.

Some people with suspicious intentions deliberately spread misinformation, doctored videos, and twisted facts. The mainstream media in Nigeria has been guilty of this offense on countless occasions. Fake news has created confusion about current events that you will hardly know which story is true and which is not true.

A study by the popular public opinion pollsters Pew research shared a frightening poll. In its poll, Pew research discovered that false news reaches more people than the truth. Out of a sample of 126,000 rumors shared online, the top 1% of false news reached up to 100,000 people while the truth rarely crosses 1000 views. This is so scary.

In Nigeria, fake news is mostly shared on social media apps like Facebook and Twitter where most users of these apps consume such information without further verifications. On many occasions, the media which is supposed to be a guard of true journalism also fall for this cheap guerilla media practice.

The consequences of spreading fake news are glaringly visible for all to see. For example, during both the 2015 and 2019 elections, conspiracy theories and fake news became a normal part of the electioneering process. Conspiracy theories about the academic qualifications of the then-presidential candidate were widely shared on social media by reputable media organizations, even though it was entirely false.

The opposition’s presidential candidate in the 2019 elections was also not left out. Different conspiracy theories about Atiku Abubakar were widely shared on Facebook. Smear campaigns and fake news have unfortunately become a new normal in Nigeria’s electioneering process.

Recognizing the menace of fake news and its effect on the peace and stability of Nigeria, several initiatives by both the government and the private sector to control the menace of fake news have been met with resistance from the citizens. Even initiatives that were implemented by the government have proven to be ineffective. It is on this note that a digital method of countering fake news that will be effective and at the same time not jeopardize free speech is being sought by many stakeholders that are concerned with the damages fake news merchants are causing and the effects on national stability and peace.

Artificial intelligence also called AI is a system that uses Machine learning to mimic human behavior and make decisions by learning data trends.

Artificial intelligence has made our lives easier. In the world of big data, AI helps in analyzing enormous amounts of data to make real-life decisions. AI helps companies make better decisions by analyzing data and predicting outcomes like customer behavior or demand patterns for a particular service.

One of the ways we can adopt AI in countering fake news is through stance detection. Most peddlers of fake news use very wild headlines to generate views since most people react to news headlines instead of the contents.

Stance detection is a machine learning model that enables the identification of variations between the news headline and the body. If there is a variation between the headline and the body, then it is classified as fake news.

Building a stance detection model that utilizes machine learning is the first step to using AI in differentiating fake news from real news. Although the stance detection technology is still in an early stage of development. The prospect it offers in countering fake news is promising.

Many initiatives are adopting AI to counter fake news, but most of these initiatives are mostly in Western and Asian countries. The level of disinformation in today’s world of new media has grown that verifying stories manually is no longer feasible.

Initiatives that use Artificial intelligence to verify and correct social Media content are referred to as Automated fact-checking (AFC).

Tech giants like Google and Facebook have done considerably well in funding automated fact-checking initiatives, although Facebook’s algorithm has been accused of being biased in making decisions.

In Nigeria, a homegrown automated fact-checking initiative is needed to help in checkmating the menace of fake news. The government must recognize that the fake news market is so vast that arresting perpetrators will not be a long-term solution. Arrests and charges cost the country much more.

The threat that fake news and misinformation pose for peace, and stability will consume us all if not well curtailed. The fake news industry has grown so large that manual ways of fact-checking stories are no longer feasible

With artificial intelligence, we can make substantial progress in countering the menace of fake news and deep fakes in Nigeria and even in the rest of the world.