AI-generated content fuels misinformation after Air India crash
However, a closer scrutiny by trained eyes would eventually reveal that it was created by an AI platform using details from a 2024 incident with South American airlines LATAM, giving it a convincing look.
By the time the Indian government refuted the report as fake, news websites had already run headlines, clouding the minds of the public, and even that of several pilots.
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by Taboola
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With the June 12
Air India crash
stirring public uproar amid scarce post-accident updates, a wave of false information, including pictures and videos created by generative AI, has swarmed the internet.
'We've observed a disturbing pattern in how bad actors are leveraging AI and social media platforms to spread misinformation and commit
fraud
during sensitive events like the Air India Flight 171 crash,' said
Amit Relan
, co-founder and CEO at digital fraud detection firm mFilterIt.
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In addition to fake news about the crash, Relan's firm found instances of fake videos showing the aftermath of the air accident and even a case of a fraudulent fundraising attempt.
'This is a classic case of emotionally-driven financial fraud, often operated from untraceable or unverified sources,' Relan said, advocating for public education to differentiate legitimate from manipulated content and collaboration on threat intelligence between platforms, law enforcement, and tech enablers.
As per the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) module, it is essential to communicate effectively with the media to ensure the accuracy of information provided and maintain public trust in the aviation industry and accident investigation authorities.
'A well-planned and executed communication strategy can go a long way in minimising negative publicity and ensuring that the facts are reported in a timely and accurate manner,' it says.
India's civil aviation ministry last week said the
Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau
(AAIB) has successfully extracted data from the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and
flight data recorder
(FDR) of the aircraft. Both the CVR and the FDR were moved to AAIB's lab in New Delhi only on 24 June, more than a week after they were recovered from the crash site in Ahmedabad. The ministry did not give any reason for the delay.
John Cox, a former airline pilot and chief executive of Safety Operating Systems, a provider of consulting services on accident investigations, said with the growing prevalence of GenAI, there needs to be a paradigm shift for providing information by India's AAIB after an event like a crash.
'This is the most extensive case of misinformation that has been seen during any accident. The AAIB should be having daily briefings as done by agencies across the globe. Because in the absence of information, it is misinformation which fills the void,' Cox said.
BOOM, a fact-checking platform found images of aircraft with its tail on blaze or even an AI generated image of a wreckage in front of the Ahmedabad airport, which was also created by AI. BOOM used AI image detectors, with all indicating a high likelihood of them being AI-generated. However, none of the posts contained a disclaimer indicating the synthetic nature of the images.
Mishi Choudhary, an online civil rights activist and founder of Software Freedom Law Centre suggests multi-pronged solutions including educating users and using better tools.
'Each new disaster now presents new opportunities for disinformation peddlers to muddy the waters and use heightened emotional vulnerability to exploit. This is not a problem that can be solved by enacting new laws,' she said. 'Platforms need to take responsibility by investing more to tackle misinformation in different languages, and be better prepared around such events."
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