![half body shot of Jeffrey Blevins standing near a handrail in Clifton Court Hall.](https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2023/12/n21216754/jcr:content/image.img.cq5dam.thumbnail.500.500.jpg/1703036653014.jpg)
Washington Post: The rise of AI fake news
UC social media expert Jeffrey Blevins makes the media rounds on the topic of fake news
According to an article in the Washington Post, since May 2023, websites hosting AI-created false articles have increased by more than 1,000 percent.
The article focuses on AI having the ability to be a misinformation superspreader and quotes leading misinformation experts, to include UC’s Jeffery Blevins, a professor in both the Department of Journalism and Department of Public and International Affairs (SPIA).
Just because a website claims to be a news organization, doesn’t mean that it has ‘real’ journalists running the operation, Blevins tells The Post, adding that having real and AI-generated news side-by-side makes deceptive stories more believable.
“It’s misleading,” he says, because not everyone is media savvy enough to tell the difference.
And it doesn’t help that AI is becoming easier to use and harder to distinguish whether the news is being generated by a spy agency or a teenager in a basement, the article states.
Photo iStock Photo.
For now, there are still some ways to tell whether an article is written by AI, says Blevins, citing things to look out for that might indicate its AI such as “really odd grammar” or poor sentence construction.
The best way to combat the deception, he says, is to improved media literacy among the average reader.
Blevins is a leading scholar in U.S. telecommunication law and policy, and critical political economy theory and is the co-author of “Social Media, Social Justice and the Political Economy of Online Networks.” He is a trusted media resource, and he has provided expertise on electronic media regulation and Federal Communications Commission policymaking to international, national, regional and local news media.
Read the Washington Post article: The rise of AI fake news is creating a ‘misinformation superspreader’
Blevins was also a cited expert in a Raw Story article: ‘Too preposterous to be real’: College hires ‘pink slime’ publisher as journalism prof
Additionally, Blevins appeared as a guest on Arirang News, Korea's largest English-language television network: War against fake news: S. Korea's one-strike policy
Featured photo at top of Jeffrey Blevins by Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand.
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
History Department Lecture
January 9, 2002
Lecture by Allan W. Winkler, Miami University, Oxford on "Urban America in World War II: Cincinnati as an example" at the Cincinnati Museum Center at 7:30pm.
UC Research Ranking Climbs
January 10, 2002
The University of Cincinnati moved up in two different national rankings established by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to compare college and university research efforts.
History Department Lecture
January 17, 2002
Lecture by Leslie Adelson, Cornell University, will deliver a Taft lecture titled "Back to the Future and Beyond 'Two Worlds':Turkish Lines of Thought in Contemporary German Literature and Memory Work" at 3:00pm in the Max Kade German Cultural Center in Old Chemistry.
New Appointments in McMicken Administration
January 21, 2002
The college is very pleased to announce two new appointments.
Sign Up for the Discovering A&S Elective
January 24, 2002
Parent's Asking, "What does someone do with THAT major?" Don't know all your options? Sign up for a 2 credit hour elective where you can meet A&S faculty, emeriti faculty, as well as, alumni.
Three of Four UC Fulbrights Scholars from McMicken
January 28, 2002
Tainted water supplies in Bangladesh, international security and missile defense, transformations in Mexico and greater understanding of India - this varied list sums up the work of four Fulbright Scholars at the University of Cincinnati who are concentrating on real-life issues involving our neighbors around the world.
Prominent Line-Up Examines Race in 2002 Ropes Series
January 31, 2002
The issue of race will receive one of the most intensive examinations undertaken in Cincinnati since the April riots when the University of Cincinnati Department of English launches its Ropes series in January and February 2002.
Nominate a Distinguished Alumni
January 31, 2002
The Purpose of the Distinguished Alumni Awards is to recognize graduates of the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievements.
UC Physicists Play Important Role in Experiments That Provided New Understanding of Neutrinos
January 31, 2002
Three physicists at the University of Cincinnati played a key role in recent experiments which provided a surprising new understanding of a tiny subatomic particle known as the neutrino.
Angelene Jamison-Hall: Publishing Award
February 13, 2002
An unpublished novel by Angelene Jamison-Hall won first place in the new writing contest sponsored by River View Publishing in Riverside, Iowa.