A reminder: Not every negative story you read about an adversary is real.

[Ocelot II]

You may want it to be real, and confirmation bias is a thing, but please keep in mind that a lot of fakery is being churned out using AI. Don't be suckered into posting something that's easily proved to be fake just because you'd like it to be true. It's more important than ever to verify a story or a video. Some videos even carry a warning that they are AI. If a story doesn't appear anywhere else, be especially careful. Don't make yourself (and DU) look foolish and credulous.

[Wifes husband]

1. How do we know you are real?

[Ocelot II]

4. If I were AI I'd be better looking.

[Wifes husband]

5. Well done sir!

Excellent response. I was being an ass. Your point is well taken

[choie]

27. Well done, Ocelot II!

[orangecrush]

22. ...

[leftstreet]

2. DUers are good at verification n/t

[Ocelot II]

3. Mostly, but not always.

[SCantiGOP]

10. Agreed

Half of the videos posted here (Russian Guy comes to mind) are something you would expect to hear from someone wearing a tin hat.

[Attilatheblond]

28. Off topic, but looking for a solution to a local weather problem:

Do tin foil hats help prevent the static chaos those of us with straight fine hair have in low humidity? Asking for myself and the dog who can't use a keyboard but always looks shocked.

[MadameButterfly]

16. It's all worth repeating

and some of us are learning from other DUers

[Maru Kitteh]

11. Collectively, perhaps. I'm taken aback though at how many do not see

It’s disturbing, the numbers of those who do not immediately identify AI as fake. Case in point the AI Comey recently posted with a much younger, shorter and more playful “Comey” finishing a portrait of Trump and Epstein in shells on the beach.

[Ms. Toad]

25. Not that I've seen.

Maybe in the past, but but recently - and even when the information posted is proven false, way too many posters justify posting it, even though it is false.

[kimbutgar]

6. I always know if it's AI if the person/animal in the picture is flawless looking !

A lot of AI slop now on facebook.

[Ol Janx Spirit]

9. That won't last long. What is "slop" now will be indistinguishable from real in a matter of months...

...not years.

[Johnny2X2X]

13. Agree.

AI goes fingers and and hands fine now as opposed to just 9 months ago.

[orangecrush]

24. But I swear I'm real!

[AZJonnie]

7. I approve this message :) (nt)

[Ol Janx Spirit]

8. We are rapidly getting to the point--if we are not already there--that it is more likely to...

...be fake than real.

And many things that are real are hyperbolized to the point of near-fakery.

Be careful out there in the media landscape these days....

The forces trying to manipulate us into perpetuating their lies are incredibly and increasingly sophisticated in their craft.

[OldBaldy1701E]

12. Exactly. And, thank you for posting this.

Now, may I add one little thing.

Mistakes happen. They happen all the time. People make them. These days, it is becoming harder and harder to pick out what is the truth online as well as doing the 'due diligence' required to make sure everything is perfectly correct.

So, understanding that, maybe let's try to tone down the constant desire here to attack and degrade someone just because they made a mistake and posted something that they decided was true, but were just not able to spend hours trying to corroborate every little sentence. Just inform the poster that subsequent information makes the post false. NO one needs to see you rant like that orange gibbon throwing ketchup at three a.m.. Just let people know that the posted item is not true and offer the evidence that it is so.

Spare us the righteousness. We get enough of that from across the aisle.

[Fiendish Thingy]

20. We must be righteous about truth and reality

If we don’t exist within a shared reality, then there can be no democracy.

The “mistakes” you mentioned are often the result of posting/reposting something that makes the OP feel good about someone’s misfortune, or angry about some heinous act, and they suspend their critical thinking and bypass the effort to verify the story in exchange for the emotional gratification that rapidly, unquestioningly posting the story provides.

As AI encroaches more and more into our lives, vigilance in discerning the truth will take more and more effort. If we, as a community, lower or abandon our standards for facts and truth, then this place will devolve into a cesspool of clickbait fueled misinformation and CT amplification.

It’s up to all of us to ensure it doesn’t.

[OldBaldy1701E]

33. "It's up to all of us to ensure it doesn't."

And, that can be done without personally attacking people, their intellect, their lives, their locations, etc.

Or, are you really suggesting that we just go all in and gang pile on anyone who happens to post something that is false, but they did so innocently?

Again, that is more in line with the other side.

I don't see the need for that. I am concerned that some others do.

[Fiendish Thingy]

34. Personal attacks are rarely, if ever, warranted.

But attacks on the content of a post, the potential impact of a post in the community, as well as the decision making process to post that content are fair game IMO.

Posting false, misleading, harmful or outright misinformation, whether done innocently or intentionally (yes, that happens) can be easily reversed by using the self-delete button.

[OldBaldy1701E]

39. Well, we will see how it works out. (n/t)

[Ocelot II]

30. WRT to the post that inspired my OP, it didn't take hours of research

to determine that it was fake - just a couple of minutes was enough, and neither I nor any other contributors to the thread intended to attack or degrade anyone, but only to point out that the video was highly problematic and that there seemed to be no evidence elsewhere on the internet that the thing had ever actually occurred. There was no ranting, but there were several requests to remove it. AI is becoming pernicious, and if it is posted, even if by mistake, it needs to be identified because it feeds on itself.

[DiceK]

14. Point taken, but

Your point is a valid point. But I resist calling Trump and his thugs advisories. They are enemies of democracy and human decency.

[erronis]

15. I like the idea of a "Suspected AI" flag added to the OP.

Somehow overridable if the OP can prove to the forum moderator (or MIRT?) that the source is not generated by AI.

It is possible to open the post and scan through all the responses to see if multiple members have said that it appears to be AI. However it would be nice not to even have to open the OP.

My other gripe is the AI voices that are now appearing on seemingly real videos - even videos made by English speakers and made several years ago. I can't stand those voices.

[llmart]

18. I'm with you regarding the voices.

However, they can be a dead giveaway that a video is AI. Down the road they may get more realistic, but really? They all sound like robot voices to me.

[erronis]

21. It's interesting, tho. I watched a video of Roger Penrose (an eminent scientist) which an an AI voice

but it was synced somewhat to his lips. It was disconcerting and I couldn't finish. I've heard him talk before so this was really difficult.

I know a lot of videos now add AI generated translated voices so they can be shown to a broader audience. I wonder if the English AI translation was just automatically placed in the video instead of his original voice.

[Fiendish Thingy]

17. Is this in response to a post about a certain NE senator? Nt

[Ocelot II]

19. Close. Iowa.

[orangecrush]

23. Honest mistakes don't make people look "ridiculous*

Especially my DU friends who have always been open and grateful for constructive criticism

[Ocelot II]

29. Of course honest mistakes happen, and it's not my intent to embarrass anyone.

All I'm asking is that we view the things we see on social media - notably videos from Youtube, Tiktok, etc. - with a bit of suspicion before assuming they are true and posting them without verifying, especially those that portray Trump and his goons in a particularly bad light. Those guys do plenty of very bad stuff for real; we don't have to look for or accept AI slop for confirmation of some bizarre story. We are not journalists and this is just another Internet message board, but considering how much fake garbage is floating around, maybe we should try to behave a bit more like journalists and at least try to confirm the information we post. Even honest mistakes get sucked into the mass of garbage; let's try not to contribute to the mess.

[Wounded Bear]

26. I've never been one to do a lot of re-posting...

I guess that is why I don't have a lot of followers.

[Kaleva]

31. Very much agree

[demmiblue]

32. K&R

[chia]

35. I replied to an OP that one of the images in the OP was AI generated. It's still in the OP.

I believe our members are far more careful than the average person to vet the media they post, but there's definitely room for improvement.

I also believe heavy Facebook users are more likely to pass along media that isn't real/accurate/true than those who are not, because the Facebook reflex is to share immediately and it's a hard reflex to resist. I don't know from my own experience because I'm not on Facebook but from knowing others who are.

I also see users of X and/or BlueSky assuming that the stupid or ugly MAGA post they're sharing is actually a really person and not a bot. This includes those profiles who are made to appear as a real celebrity but they aren't, saying things the celebrity didn't say, and those that are simply the product of bot farms meant to amplify disinformation. Considering the vast number of bots on X, it's quite likely the person you're outraged by (understandably) isn't actually human at all.

We're in the age now of being unable to know immediately what is true and what isn't what our eyes are trying to tell us and it's going to get worse.

Thank you for the reminder. Every time someone posts an OP like yours, hopefully a few more will become more diligent, more skeptical.

[ChicagoTeamster]

36. Use Google and check against a news aggregator and see what comes up. There's a lot of fake news mainly on social media

[RetiredParatrooper]

37. Use the rules of journalism

Two independent sources. This has ALWAYS been true, and AI really has nothing to do with this.

Be doubly cautious if it is something you want to hear.

[Ocelot II]

38. Bingo. But AI does have a lot to do with it because it tries to duplicate legit sources.

It's getting better at fooling people, so be even more careful than ever when it's something you want to hear, because AI will quickly figure out what you want to hear and give you more of it.