How do we distinguish between fact and falsehood? This is perhaps, one of the most debated questions of the past year. Google and Facebook are both in the spotlight for disseminating so-called \"fake news\", despite the artificial intelligence (AI) systems that these companies developed and deploy on their platforms. If AI is currently struggling to discern facts from fiction, could it be that human intelligence is still a necessary component for the continued successful integration of AI? <\/p>\n
In a much simpler time, Google was a search engine that indexed websites. Today, the search giant is evolving towards giving users summarised answers to their billions of questions. Type in a word and you'll get the definition. Type in a name and you'll get a short biography. Type in a question and roughly one in five times, Google will generate a specific answer. This evolution of Google Search into something one could call Google \"Q&A\" goes hand in hand with the rapid evolution away from typed search towards AI-powered voice assistants. <\/p>\n
In response to straightforward questions, Google usually cites reliable facts and sources pulled from its \"knowledge graph\". However, the more abstract or off-the-wall the questions are, the more likely the answers will be formulated from potentially unreliable sources. Multiple examples have recently gone viral, each demonstrating the shortcomings of Google's search methods and the ability of the AI utilized to generate factual information. <\/p>\n
Ask Google if Obama is planning a coup, and you'll get the answer that he might be. Ask Google if women are evil and Google delivers the answer that all women have a \"degree of prostitute in them\". Ask Google if all republicans are fascists, and Google produces an answer that includes the suggestion they're all Nazis. <\/p>\n
\nGoogle Home:
"Yes, republicans = nazis" pic.twitter.com\/7HVQjyjbEq<\/a><\/p>\n— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) March 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n