An expert in misinformation has warned about the amount of "AI slop" online as a new investigation found 172 instances of political mis- and disinformation on social media platforms in the six weeks leading up to the Presidential Election.
Ciarán O'Connor from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue told RTÉ's Behind the Story they monitor social media platforms and identify instances of "online attacks on election integrity".
"This analysis identified many false, misleading or delegitimising narratives about both the electoral process or candidates," he said.
Read more: Inquiry finds 172 false claim instances during election
"This included claims that sought to invalidate the nomination process, undermine the validity of the election or interfere with voting on polling day.
"[There were] lots of claims of rigged elections [and] the result being a foregone conclusion weeks before polling day".
Generative AI
Mr O’Connor said generative artificial intelligence – or generative AI - was also used to create "misleading imagery targeting candidates".
"So much of this is AI slop - it’s not designed to be highly convincing or highly deceptive," he said.
Recalling one AI video depicting President-elect Catherine Connolly, Mr O’Connor said finding out who puts these together can be difficult.
"There was no label to say this was gen AI media, there was no label to direct users toward impartial sources of information about the campaign.
"I think that gets at the failures by platforms to adequately label content which may be deceptive in its subject matter or in the means through which it was created."
Mr O’Connor said such AI-created videos are becoming "more and more of an issue, particularly in fast-moving periods or instances like an election".
Drogheda unrest
Jackie Fox also discusses covering the unrest at the weekend outside an IPAS centre in Drogheda, which saw a premises set alight.
Four children, including a baby, were among five people rescued from the top floor of a building housing International Protection applicants on Friday night.
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