Disinformation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Dear Colleagues,

Artificial intelligence (AI) has arrived in society, taking center stage as a high technology. Its impact affects all social sectors and virtually all processes carried out by people and all social actors. In the field of communication, one of the areas where it will have a major impact is disinformation, which has accompanied us throughout human history and has been especially intense in countries that have experienced armed conflicts, in the interwar period—between the two world wars—and in the last ten years of the network society.

Although AI can help combat it through updated tools developed by fact-checkers, journalists, and citizens with updated digital skills, it multiplies the risks of disinformation due to the ease with which the available tools can effectively and widely produce false content through rapid dissemination. Artificial intelligence, like all technology, is neither good nor bad, but neither is it neutral (Kranberg, 1985). However, the current technological paradigm penetrates the core of life and mind (Castells, 1996). The question is whether we are using it to build healthier and more sustainable societies, where citizens live better lives and have access to better information—that is, higher-quality, truthful information—so they can make informed decisions based on their own judgment.

Several case studies show that AI is a factor that can amplify disinformation, which is information that appears similar but is created and distributed with malicious intent (Barredo Ibáñez, Jamil, de la Garza Montemayor, 2023). In recent years, disinformation processes have fueled numerous information disorders, triggering growing social concern about the negative effects of some disruptive technologies and false information. Many citizens struggle to identify quality information from malicious information. From different quarters, it is argued that, to counter AI-driven disinformation, effective regulations must be established, professional self-regulation must be applied in different areas of communication, and digital and media literacy must be intensified (Chu-Ke, Dong, 2024). AI requires shared governance, as well as a legal order, since disinformation affects the system of public freedoms and fundamental rights (Manfredi Sánchez, Ufarte Ruiz, 2020). The first steps in regulation have been taken, but we must understand the effects of this regulation and the challenges posed both in the field of regulation and self-regulation, and from the social sectors affected by the massive emergence of AI.

This Special Issue seeks to offer a comprehensive understanding of the impact of AI on disinformation, integrating interdisciplinary work from fields such as communication, journalism, political science, sociology, economics, law, and engineering. The aim is to bring together a set of contributions that address the main challenges facing today's societies, which, in turn, pose renewed challenges for research in the social sciences. It is necessary to understand in detail how current AI tools are being used, the ethical challenges for different professions, their impact on society and citizens' perceptions, as well as their economic impact and impact on social transformations.

We accept original research articles, theoretical articles, case studies, and critical reviews that address, among others, the following topics:

• Disinformation: the role of social actors and social media in the dissemination of disinformation, as well as its impact on public perception and influence on people's behavior.
• Artificial intelligence (AI): analysis of the use of artificial intelligence tools in different social sectors and professions, as well as its impact on society and the challenges it poses.
• The impact of AI on disinformation: how the emergence of AI is impacting the increase in disinformation in today's societies, as well as the use of AI tools in the fight against disinformation.
• Ethical considerations: the ethical challenges posed by the arrival of AI in communication processes and, especially, in journalism.
• Political action: statements from major international organizations, the position of political and social organizations, and political action in the AI landscape.
• Regulatory responses: the first areas in which the application of AI has been regulated, considerations of the impact of this regulation, and challenges in establishing renewed legal frameworks.
• Digital communication and journalism: the impact of AI on communication in general and journalism in particular, with special attention to the emergence of synthetic media, professional profiles, information search, information production, information dissemination, and ethical challenges.

References

Barredo-Ibáñez, D., Jamil, S. & De-la-Garza-Montemayor, D.J. (2023). Disinformation and Artificial Intelligence: the Case of Online Journalism in China. Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico 29 (4), 621-637. https://dx.doi.org/10.5209/esmp.88543.

Castells, M. (1996). The Rise of the Network Society, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture Vol. I. Cambridge, MA; Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

Chu-Ke, C., & Dong, Y. (2024). Misinformation and Literacies in the Era of Generative Artificial Intelligence: A Brief Overview and a Call for Future Research. Emerging Media, 2(1), 70-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/27523543241240285 .

Kranzberg, M. (1985). “Science-Technology-Society: It's as Simple as XYZ!”. Theory into Practice, 4, 234-241.

Manfredi Sánchez, Juan Luis; Ufarte Ruiz, María José. “Artificial intelligence and journalism: a tool to fight disinformation”. Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals, 2020, no. 124, pp. 49-72, doi:10.24241/rcai.2020.124.1.49. 

Prof. Dr. Xosé López García
Dr. Hermenegildo José Casas García
Dr. Alba Silva-Rodríguez
Dr. Ana-Isabel Rodriguez-Vazquez
Guest Editors

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• disinformation
• artificial intelligence
• information disorders
• disruptive technologies
• communication and journalism
• digital media