AI is now the dominant source of image-based misinformation on the internet, a team of Google researchers determined in a recent. While the findings have yet to be peer-reviewed, they're as fascinating as they are alarming — and strike at the heart of one of the deepest tensions at the center of Silicon Valley's ongoing AI race.
Reading between the lines, these results suggest that AI has become misinformation actors' favorite medium., this is likely an undercount. The web is vast, and fact-checking services like ClaimReview are imperfect and often require opt-ins.
It's true that most tools, including conventional media editing and creation tools like Photoshop, can be abused for harm. But as the researchers emphasize, ease and scale both matter. Generative AI tools have replaced a bespoke creation process with Shein-level mass production, and