Disinformation has been spreading throughout Africa, leading to the spread of everything from crazy conspiracy theories to misleading information regarding vaccines to questionable political speech. In an already uncertain information environment, fake content, including that which advances the political agendas of those spreading falsehoods, has grown due to the spread of racist, misogynistic, and xenophobic messages and incited violence.
A 300% surge from 2022 to 2023 saw 189 disinformation efforts on the continent, according to a report by the African Center for Strategic Studies. Furthermore, the Reuters Institute's 2022 Digital News Report indicates that individuals in Nigeria and Kenya, two significant African nations that lead the way regarding daily social media usage, share the most concerns regarding false information.
Journalists used AI
Journalists use automation driven by artificial intelligence to examine massive databases, which can reveal patterns and stories that aren't always obvious. For instance, AI can aid with:
- Automated Reporting: Artificial Intelligence is being utilized for automated reporting, especially for regular news items like sports scores, weather forecasts, and financial updates. Journalists have more time to conduct deep inquiries.
- Data Analysis: Journalists are using AI to sort through massive datasets to find patterns and stories that would be hard to find manually, such as tracking disease outbreaks or exposing corruption.
- Content Creation: Generative AI is extremely helpful in generating article ideas and story angles for local news organizations with a minimal workforce.
- Multilingual Support: AI technologies facilitate global reporting and content translation, which is essential in an area with high linguistic diversity. To be fully comprehensive, reporting is challenged by the low capabilities in African languages.
- Fact-Checking: AI is included in the fact-checking process to counter false information and enhance media literacy, as shown by organizations such as Africa Check.
Journalism AI Use Survey Results
According to the study, 60% of the journalists who responded to the poll use AI tools in their newsrooms. Some tools include text analytics, chatbots, social media management, image and video analysis, and speech-to-text transcription.
According to most journalists polled, generative AI is used in their work. Over 18% of respondents reported using the tools. Chatbots and conversational AI tools, including Chat-GPT, image analysis, and Chat Sonic, are the most often utilized AI tools.
A little over 19% of the participants use tools for analyzing images and videos, while 16% rely on other automated content creation platforms like Rytr and Jasper-AI. The poll also discovered that speech-to-text, social media management apps Hoot-suite and Google Analytics, and automated ad placement tools Hub-Spot are utilized less frequently.
AI Tools
- My AI Fact Checker Tool
According to research, fake news spreads six times more quickly on social media than actual news. In response, a group created My AI Fact Checker, an AI-driven application that lets users quickly and precisely confirm articles, social media posts, and other digital content.
It was developed by the Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative BBYDI and started in 2024 through Fact Check Africa, the organization's fact-checking branch in Nigeria. It uses cutting-edge AI to reduce the impact of misleading claims and verify material quickly.
- Dubawa AI Chatbot and Audio Tools
To improve fact-checking efforts, the Nigerian Center for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) project Dubawa launched an audio platform and chatbot driven by artificial intelligence (AI) in May 2024.
The Dubawa Chat-bot aims to support people and journalists in their research by offering precise, real-time answers to queries or claims. The Dubawa Chat-bot, integrated into WhatsApp, can retrieve current information from the internet, unlike AI tools like Chat-GPT, which cannot access real-time internet data.
- Nubia AI Story Creation Tool
In 2022, a media research and data analytics company named Dataphyte Nigeria teamed up with the Norwegian newspaper Fedrelandsvennen to introduce Nubia, an AI tool. The tool originally aimed to provide camera, geographical, and socioeconomic data into data-driven alerts and reports. It started as an AI-powered news distribution platform.
Nubia provides several capabilities for more effective content creation and management. It can create templates, automate article creation, and let users see and edit content from within the interface. However, despite the potential for increased flexibility, the accuracy and significance of this feature mostly rely on human judgment and editorial oversight.