List of All Articles with Tag 'politics'

The dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) spreading harmful misinformation were made clear once again on Monday, when local fire service officials were forced to confirm there had not been an ‘explosion’ at the Pentagon in Virginia – despite an AI-generated image appearing to suggest there had been. The main image, shared by several fake accounts with blue tick ‘verification’, depicts black smoke billowing close to the Pentagon building, with another showing a distant photo of smoke next to the US defence department headquarters. Stating that the reports are unfounded, the Arlington Fire and Emergency Medical Services Twitter account wrote: “[The Pentagon Force Protection Agency] and the ACFD [Arlington County Fire Department] are aware of a social media report circulating online about an explosion near the Pentagon. “There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public.” Fortunately, while paid-for blue tick accounts have been promised greater promotion on Twitter, a search for ‘Pentagon’ on the social media network brings up a string of tweets from ‘unverified’ accounts debunking the AI image: Stocks reportedly tanked following the fake image, and it isn’t the first time that’s happened, either. The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly saw a sudden drop last year when an imposter tweeted “insulin is free”. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter And if tricksters aren’t targeting the Pentagon with AI-generated imagery, then they’re using the software to create pictures of the Pope in a puffer jacket and former US President Donald Trump being arrested. In fact, it was only last month that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York representative, warned of “major potential harm” at the hands of fake AI images. “Jokes aside, this is setting the stage for major potential harm when a natural disaster hits and no one knows what agencies, reporters, or outlets are real. “Not long ago we had major flash floods. We had to mobilize trusted info fast to save lives. Today just made that harder,” she said. It seems we’re there already… Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Americans' commitment to freedom of speech is colliding with their dislike of the Chinese government and their addiction to social media.

Twitter will not have to face accusations it aided and abetted terrorism when it hosted tweets created by the terror group ISIS, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The Biden administration proposed a new rule Wednesday meant to prevent students from taking on an unaffordable amount of student loan debt to attend for-profit colleges and certificate programs at nonprofit colleges.

A former Washington, DC, Metro transit system contractor retained access to "critical and sensitive" Metro data from his computer in Russia after he left his job in a breach that raises broader security concerns about one of the nation's largest transit systems, according to a report released Wednesday.

The US State Department on Tuesday offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of a Russian man accused of a 2021 ransomware attack on the Washington, DC, Police Department that led to the leak of sensitive police files.

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday five criminal cases against people accused of stealing or illegally diverting American technology and materials for the Russian, Chinese and Iranian governments.

The Central Intelligence Agency has launched a new effort to capitalize on what US intelligence officials believe is an "unprecedented" opportunity to convince Russians disaffected by the war in Ukraine and life in Russia to share their secrets, posting a slickly produced, cinematic recruitment video online on Monday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed legislation to defund diversity, equity and inclusion programs at all state universities, which he called a "distraction from the core mission."

From serving in the Iraq War to becoming the first U.S. senator to give birth in office, Tammy Duckworth has an impressive history of overcoming adversity with grit and humor.

President Joe Biden previewed his 2024 election pitch to young Black voters Saturday in commencement remarks at a Howard University graduation ceremony in Washington, DC, articulating his vision of a "future for all Americans,"

About half of North Korea's missile program has been funded by cyberattacks and cryptocurrency theft, a White House official said Tuesday.