Are AI Chatbots Spreading Misinformation to US Voters?
Are AI chatbots quietly shaping the perceptions of U.S. voters? Voters trying to educate themselves about candidates "are unknowingly being served partisan talking points in the guise of neutral news summaries," write two news researchers in Politico magazine: Leading AI chatbots cite partisan websites masquerading as independent local news outlets nearly half of the time when people ask about…
Two news researchers have warned that AI chatbots may be inadvertently influencing the perceptions of U.S. voters by disseminating partisan talking points as neutral information. According to a new audit by NewsGuard, a reliability-focused organization, leading AI chatbots frequently cite partisan websites disguised as independent local news outlets when responding to inquiries about candidates and issues in the midterm campaign.
In 48.2 percent of the chatbots' responses, pink slime sites, which are predominantly left-leaning, were among the sources cited. In 7.7 percent of responses, pink slime sites were the sole source mentioned, although other sources were also listed in the citation. None of the AI tools performed particularly well, with some sources like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Copilot citing pink slime sites in up to 70.8 percent and 54.2 percent of their responses, respectively.
The audit also found that these chatbots were three times more likely to cite left-leaning pink slime sites compared to right-leaning ones, although researchers suggest this discrepancy may be more due to the frequent posting patterns of progressive sites rather than any inherent bias from the AI tools.
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