April Fools: Six Techniques to Avoid Being Fooled by Fake News

With the rise of artificial intelligence, it will become easier to create false content for April Fools' Day jokes and to deceive the audience for a darker purpose.

According to a cybersecurity expert interviewed by American media National Public Radio (NPR), here are six tips to apply on a daily basis on the web to distinguish truth from falsehood and avoid falling into the trap of misinformation.

1-Minute Butterfly!

From the beginning, Sam Gregory, general director of WITNESS, a non-profit organization that provides training against misleading artificial intelligence (AI), recommended that Internet users slow down on social networks, where information can be reshared in seconds.

“You don't need to see them all that quickly, you can take a moment to review these posts – just a few extra seconds –” “Too good to be true, too crazy to be believable, or infuriating,” he said.

For example, if you encounter an AI-generated image, “You shouldn't look at the image. You should see where it was published, the comments, the caption of the photo – and read the date for April Fools' Day,” he told American media.

2-Return to source

It is also worth going back to the source of the publication to confirm its credibility: is the image from a relative or a stranger, from a large company – verified and reliable – or from an average Internet user?

“Is your girlfriend sharing this or someone you know? Or is it just a random X account trying to tell you that the king of England just died, but is usually tweeting gossip and is in California? He pointed out.

3- See what others are saying

When surprising information appears out of the blue, it may be worth doing a little research of your own to see if the topic has already been covered by a reliable online source.

Alternatively, comments under a post are a good indicator of whether its authenticity is worth further questioning, according to Sam Gregory, not because they contain truth, but because they indicate “s” that “are being debated. Further investigation.”

4- Find the source of the image

Regarding photos edited based on another image on the web, it is possible to find the original by conducting a simple reverse search in a search engine.

The latter, managed mainly by Google, simply involves putting a screenshot of an image into software available online, which tries to find its source by searching the web.

“If someone tells you this picture is from yesterday, there is an older version from last year, that doesn't mean the picture is from last year, but it definitely tells you that it is not from yesterday,” the expert noted.

5-Identify trends

Misinformation doesn't just happen on April Fools' Day: Experts say it's important to keep an eye out for other times of the year, especially after high-profile media events like last week's meltdown from a bridge in Baltimore, which are often exploited for publicity. False information.

“What we really want people to do is learn patterns to follow [la désinformation]So they can better identify it in the future,” says Sam Gregory.

6- Practice on 1st April

April Fool's Day, according to experts, is an ideal time to sharpen your eye for misinformation, especially since the truth is often announced in the following days.

“April Fools jokes usually don't try to convince you of your political views, make you angry, or target negative emotions that are dangerous online. And most of the things you find are hilarious. So from an information literacy perspective, it's fun to encourage people to practice your skills,” he told NPR.

In particular, some April Fool's jokes can resurface in a new context, according to the American, which already has a false image of a baby elephant carrying a lion in its trunk, along with its mother. Media.