AI Briefing: Concerns about misinformation grow on the eve of the U.S. elections

With just days before U.S. election, AI-generated political misinformation continues to fill online platforms with plenty of smoke.

Reports this week reveal increasing chaos from AI and non-AI content on platforms like Meta and X. The BBC reported that X is paying some users thousands of dollars to share political misinformation including AI images about Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal noted that X’s algorithm is filling feeds with unwanted political content, while Wired found Meta is auto-generating Facebook groups for militias organizing ahead of Election Day. And just last month, U.S. intelligence officials warned that Russia and Iran are attempting to influence the election by using AI in social media and fake news articles.

Of course, AI makes up just one slice of the overall political misinformation pie. Earlier this week, Digiday found numerous examples of political advertisers on Meta spreading election-related misinformation. According to the Meta Ads Library, some Facebook pages have spent tens of thousands of dollars with content about right-wing conspiracy theories, with one page having spent more than $1 million on political ads in the past month without any official campaign affiliation.

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