China's new challenge as natural disasters strike - fake AI videos

Image source, Chinese state media Image caption, Screenshot shows Chinese state media debunking AI content By Stephen McDonell China correspondent Published 7 hours ago As China deals with the fallout of Typhoon Noul that made landfall over the weekend, officials will be painfully aware that they will likely have an additional challenge to deal with: dangerously misleading videos created with Artificial Intelligence (AI). Powerful storms and flooding incidents over the last few months have seen fake videos inundating social media platforms – these include images of dead bodies floating in floodwaters, the false depiction of severe flooding in areas actually not affected and others with blatantly fake details of emergency response efforts. In some areas, videos containing false information about power outages prompted residents to panic buy emergency supplies. Other videos capitalise on real-life incidents. Flooding in Hengzhou city, Guangxi in early July caused hundreds of snakes to escape from a breeding farm. Then fake images were also published showing crocodiles being released into a river. In an already tense and dangerous situation involving mass evacuations and complex rescue operations, authorities want to avoid panic. Now they fear that AI technology - which China is pouring billions of dollars into - is providing simple, accessible tools that can be used to trick the public. "Many of these content creators use disaster news to try to gain followers, knowing that more sensational or exaggerated content will garner more likes and more views. They are deliberately fabricating information to grab people's attention," Huang Zhihua, Deputy Chief in charge of online public security for Zhejiang Police Department told Chinese state media. In recent weeks, there have been arrests and punishment – ranging from detention awaiting criminal prosecution to fines – for the creation of bogus reports and video content. But experts are warning that an unprecedented crisis of misinformation could be looming. Image source, Social media Image caption, Fake content purportedly shows crocodiles being released into a river In an article published by the newspaper of the Communist Party's Central Party School, Professor Chen Bin said, "AI dramatically lowers the technical barriers to producing false information. Individuals no longer require sophisticated technical skills. By simply prompting AI tools, they can rapidly generate convincing text, images, audio and video… which is highly realistic but entirely fabricated content, manufactured on a large scale." Professor Gao Fuping, from the East China University of Political Science and Law, told the BBC that motivation for the publishing of such false content ranges from those who do it "to create something amusing without thinking about the consequences", to those who want to "generate traffic for personal gain" or those who wish to deliberately "cause panic or social unrest". "Some users think the onli