“Fake News Immunity Chatbot” teaches critical thinking and debunking misinformation

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have developed the “Fake News Immunity Chatbot,” an artificial intelligence that helps users recognize misinformation online. Using the theories of the Greek philosophers Socrates, Aristotle and Gorgias, they can learn to view content critically.

“Use chatbot proactively”

“The chatbot is a good approach to combating misinformation, but people also have to be willing to use it proactively. Many Internet users are just looking for confirmation of their opinions and don't want to hear that they are wrong. “Fake news therefore often has a significantly greater reach than the information provided,”

says social media expert Felix Beilharz when asked by pressetext.

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On the free-to-access website, users communicate via text messages with a chatbot that offers them various articles on the topic of coronavirus. They must then evaluate whether they believe this content to be accurate or misinformation. The system ultimately tells you whether your assessment is correct.

“A chatbot is a good learning opportunity, especially for younger people. They are used to communicating with short text messages.

That's why in this case they are picked up where they are. “You can learn on the go on your smartphone by taking in small bits of information,”

said digitalization expert Thomas R. Köhler to press text.

Learning according to the gamification principle

It's not just intentionally misleading articles that appear in the chat. There are also messages that are incorrect in their presentation. So that users can learn how to recognize fake news, the system teaches them the theories of Greek philosophers.

Aristotle explains fallacies and Socrates explains the need to question everything. Gorgias shows how popular opinions must be contested.

The Fake News Immunity Chatbot works according to the gamification principle. The better users do at recognizing fake news, the more points they collect. The researchers hope that the application will promote critical thinking and make people less susceptible to manipulation.

At the moment the chatbot is only available in English.

You might also be interested in: WhatsApp fact checker chatbot

Source: press text
Article image: sdecoret / Shutterstock


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