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> NewsGuard has a clever way to identify these junk AI-written websites...For example, one site called CountyLocalNews.com had messages like “Sorry, I cannot fu

> NewsGuard has a clever way to identify these junk AI-written websites...For example, one site called CountyLocalNews.com had messages like “Sorry, I cannot fulfill this prompt as it goes against ethical and moral principles … As an AI language model, it is my responsibility to provide factual and trustworthy information.” The red flag here wasn't the AI admitting it was "an AI language model". The red flag that this site was bullshit was the domain name CountyLocalNews.com Everyone should be using an ad blocker, especially if going to random questionable websites, but the important thing that should have been hammered into people's heads a long time ago was that you can't trust everything you read online and that giving a few seconds consideration to your source is important. We wouldn't have worry so much about things like AI spitting out fake news or deepfakes if people didn't treat @randomdude420 as a reliable source of information that should be taken seriously without question. @randomdude420, and I'm not picking on them if that's a real person, is just a random person online like me and should be treated as such. If something is important (and if it makes you angry or afraid it must be) verify it as best as you can. Because Google has become trash we can't just click on the first few links that come back in search results and assume that we're getting accurate or quality answers. Since Google doesn't want to fix this, and nobody else is stepping up, people just have to be smarter. It just sucks that it's getting harder and harder to find legitimate results at all since they're being drowned out by garbage.

freedomben 3y ago
The majority of humans can't defend themseles against their own confirmation bias, even when they are aware of the phenomenon. I suspect this isn't going to improve anytime soon.
- wpietri 3y ago
  That's what I've always thought too.
  - autoexec 3y ago
    I'd like to think they can learn. Even with all the heavy metal poisoning, I don't think it's too late to teach new generations how to think critically. I can't speak to how bad things are elsewhere, but the average American only reads at a 6th grade level. That's also about where their understanding of science is. Their math skills are even worse. Americans today are not a good indicator of what humanity is capable of. We could always try to fix our educational system as opposed to sabotaging it. I have to believe we can do better.
- emmender 3y ago
  It is not confirmation bias. It is a different tendency. It is a tendency to absorb whatever we read or hear - regardless of its information content. IMO: Human languages evolved more for bonding than for conveying information. So, words exchanged were more to soothe the emotions of individuals involved rather than convey useful information about the state of their environment. Hence we are fundamentally wired not to process the information content critically but to be soothed emotionally by whatever we read or hear
lastangryman 3y ago
I chuckled at: > NewsGuard has a clever way to identify these junk AI-written websites...For example, one site called CountyLocalNews.com had messages like “Sorry, I cannot fulfill this prompt as it goes against ethical and moral principles … `if str_contains(body, "Sorry, I cannot")` thanks NewsGuard, you've solved the problem pats NewsGuard on head while giving them an encouraging smile

freedomben 3y ago

The majority of humans can't defend themseles against their own confirmation bias, even when they are aware of the phenomenon. I suspect this isn't going to improve anytime soon.

wpietri 3y ago
That's what I've always thought too.
- autoexec 3y ago
  I'd like to think they can learn. Even with all the heavy metal poisoning, I don't think it's too late to teach new generations how to think critically. I can't speak to how bad things are elsewhere, but the average American only reads at a 6th grade level. That's also about where their understanding of science is. Their math skills are even worse. Americans today are not a good indicator of what humanity is capable of. We could always try to fix our educational system as opposed to sabotaging it. I have to believe we can do better.
emmender 3y ago
It is not confirmation bias. It is a different tendency. It is a tendency to absorb whatever we read or hear - regardless of its information content. IMO: Human languages evolved more for bonding than for conveying information. So, words exchanged were more to soothe the emotions of individuals involved rather than convey useful information about the state of their environment. Hence we are fundamentally wired not to process the information content critically but to be soothed emotionally by whatever we read or hear

lastangryman 3y ago

I chuckled at: > NewsGuard has a clever way to identify these junk AI-written websites...For example, one site called CountyLocalNews.com had messages like “Sorry, I cannot fulfill this prompt as it goes against ethical and moral principles … `if str_contains(body, "Sorry, I cannot")` thanks NewsGuard, you've solved the problem pats NewsGuard on head while giving them an encouraging smile