A new AI tool that can identify COVID-19 misinformation and conspiracy theories is now available. This tool is in form of a machine-learning program that accurately identifies COVID-19-related conspiracy theories from social media and then models how they evolved over time. There has been a lot of misinformation right from the origin of the virus at start to vaccination. This tool will come as a solution in finding the best methods of mitigating the misinformation.
Because people tend to believe the first message they encounter, public health officials could someday monitor which conspiracy theories are gaining traction on social media and craft factual public information campaigns to preempt widespread acceptance of falsehoods
The study, titled “Thought I’d Share First,” used publicly available, anonymized Twitter data to characterize four COVID-19 conspiracy theory themes and provide context for each through the first five months of the pandemic. The four themes the study examined were;
- 5G cell towers spread the virus.
- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation engineered or has otherwise malicious intent related to COVID-19.
- The virus was bioengineered or was developed in a laboratory.
- The COVID-19 vaccines, which were then all still in development, would be dangerous.
The study found that misinformation tweets contain more negative views when compared to factual tweets. It also found at conspiracy theories evolve over time, incorporating details from unrelated conspiracy theories as well as real-world events. This AI tool that can identify COVID-19 conspiracy theories will help in developing positive campaigns to counter the negative sentiments.
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