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Disinformation through Massive Clusters

https://gizmodo.com/what-are-the-biggest-challenges-technology-must-overcom-1837985525

This article covers a very wide range of technological hurdles we have yet to surpass, but I’d like to zero in specifically on the second professional’s opinion.  Scott Atran speaks towards the high risks posed by easy access to disinformation tools: all one really needs is an Internet connection.  Well crafted misinformation need only appeal to group member’s inherent biases, and even informed, educated persons can fall for falsities. To make matters even worse, false information isn’t just presented as information straightforwardly. It is “layered” through embedment in “popular blogs, forums, and websites of activists”.

In other words, people within clusters, seeing these pieces of information, willingly accept much of it because it increases the perceived social “payoff” of their choice.  Atran acknowledges the difficulty of avoiding this scenario, but only offers the possibility of “banning” small clusters, which will also prevent large clusters form forming.  However, this, on a large scale, is incredibly difficult to implement (people do not want to be told what to do).  What might be possible is a slow culture change away from these behaviors, just as technology and connectivity provoked a culture change towards clusters on a massive scale.

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