Introduction to AI and Political Influence
The rise of generative AI is reshaping politics globally. However, there’s a significant “detection gap,” especially in the Global South. This gap arises from biases within detection systems, making it challenging to identify fake content effectively.
The Detection Gap Explained
Biases in AI Systems
AI tools often fail to detect fake news or manipulated media accurately in regions like Africa and Latin America. These tools are primarily trained on data from Western countries, leading to a lack of effectiveness elsewhere.
Impact on Elections
This detection gap can have severe consequences during elections. Misinformation spreads unchecked, potentially influencing voter behavior and election outcomes.
Challenges Faced by Researchers
Lack of Local Data
A major challenge is the scarcity of local data for training these AI systems. Without relevant data, it’s difficult for these tools to learn and adapt to different contexts effectively.
“With generative AI affecting politics worldwide, researchers face a ‘detection gap,’ as the biases built into systems mean tools for identifying fake content often work poorly or not at all in the Global South.”
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Understanding Font Formats and Their Usage
Introduction to Font Formats
Fonts play a crucial role in web design, impacting both aesthetics and readability. Different font formats like WOFF, WOFF2, and TTF are used to ensure compatibility across various browsers and devices.
Common Font Families
Several popular font families are frequently utilized in web design:
- Oswald: Known for its clean lines and modern look.
- LabGrotesque: Offers bold styles suitable for impactful headings.
- ProximaNova: A versatile font that works well for both body text and headings.
- The Zero ByteMono: Ideal for coding or technical content due to its monospaced nature.
Implementing Fonts in Web Design
Font-Face Declarations
To use custom fonts on a website, @font-face declarations are employed. These declarations specify the font family name, weight, style, display method, and source URL. For example:
css
@font-face {
font-family: ‘Oswald’;
font-weight: 600;
src: url(‘/path/to/Oswald-Semibold.woff2’) format(‘woff2’);
}
This code snippet ensures that the Oswald Semibold variant is loaded from the specified path.
Ensuring Compatibility with Multiple Formats
To maximize browser compatibility, it's essential to provide multiple formats of each font file:
css
@font-face {
font-family: ‘LabGrotesque’;
src:
url(‘/path/to/LabGrotesque-Bold.woff2’) format(‘woff2’),
url(‘/path/to/LabGrotesque-Bold.woff’) format(‘woff’);
}
By including both WOFF2 and WOFF formats, you ensure that older browsers can still render the fonts correctly.
The Importance of Fallback Fonts
Fallback fonts act as backups if a custom web font fails to load or is not supported by the user's browser. Common fallback options include generic family names like serif, sans-serif, or monospace.
For instance:
css
body {
font-family: ‘ProximaNova’, Arial, sans-serif;
}
In this example, if ProximaNova fails to load, Arial will be used as an alternative.
Understanding the Basics of Web Scripts
What Are Web Scripts?
Web scripts are small programs embedded within web pages to enhance functionality and user experience. They can be used for various purposes, such as tracking user behavior, displaying dynamic content, or integrating third-party services.
Common Uses of Web Scripts
- Analytics and Tracking: Tools like Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel use scripts to collect data on how users interact with a website.
- Advertising: Platforms like Taboola and Outbrain embed scripts to serve personalized ads.
- Social Media Integration: Social networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and others use scripts for sharing buttons or embedding posts.
How Do These Scripts Work?
Loading External Resources
Scripts often load external resources asynchronously to avoid slowing down the page load time. For example:
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This script loads Facebook’s event tracking library without blocking other elements on the page from loading.
Embedding Third-Party Services
Third-party services provide snippets of code that you can embed directly into your HTML:
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This snippet integrates TikTok’s analytics service into your website.
Best Practices for Using Web Scripts
Minimize Script Usage
Only include necessary scripts to reduce page load times and improve performance.
Load Asynchronously or Defer Loading
Use async or defer attributes when including external scripts:
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This ensures that the script loads in parallel with other resources, improving overall efficiency.
Conclusion
Web scripts play a crucial role in modern web development by enhancing functionality and providing valuable insights through analytics. However, it’s essential to use them judiciously to maintain optimal performance and user experience on your site.
The Challenge of Detecting AI-Generated Content Globally
Increasing Use of Generative AI in Politics
Recently, former president Donald Trump shared photos that seemed to show Taylor Swift fans backing his presidential campaign. These images appeared to be AI-generated, and WIRED confirmed their likely manipulation using True Media’s detection tool.
Growing Prevalence of Generative AI
The use of generative AI is becoming more common, especially in political contexts. WIRED has been monitoring its application in elections worldwide. However, detecting such content outside the US and parts of Europe remains challenging due to biases in the training data used by detection systems.
Limitations of Current Detection Tools
Confidence Levels and Biases
Most available tools can only offer an 85-90% confidence rate for identifying AI-generated content. According to Sam Gregory from Witness, this accuracy drops significantly when dealing with non-Western subjects or languages.
“As tools were developed, they were prioritized for particular markets,” says Gregory.
These models often prioritize English—especially US-accented English—and faces common in Western countries.
Data Availability Issues
AI models are primarily trained on readily available internet data where English dominates. Richard Ngamita from Thraets points out that much African data exists only in hard copy form, making it inaccessible for training these models.
“Most of our data, actually, from [Africa] is in hard copy,” says Ngamita.
Consequences and False Positives
Inaccurate Detection Results
Without sufficient diverse data for training, detection models often produce false positives or negatives. Sabhanaz Rashid Diya from the Tech Global Institute notes that these tools frequently misidentify non-native English writing as AI-generated text due to inadequate training on varied linguistic patterns.
“There’s a lot more easily accessible tools and tech available that actually allows someone to create synthetic media than the ones that are available to actually detect it,” says Diya.
Conclusion: Bridging the Gap
To improve global detection capabilities:
- Diversify Training Data: Incorporate more varied linguistic and cultural datasets.
- Digitize Non-Western Data: Convert hard-copy information into digital formats suitable for model training.
- Develop Inclusive Models: Ensure new technologies consider global diversity right from development stages.
By addressing these gaps, we can better equip journalists and researchers worldwide against disinformation threats posed by generative AI.### AI-Fakes Detection Challenges in the Global South
#### Low-Quality Media Complicates Detection
In many parts of the world, including Africa, low-cost Chinese smartphones dominate the market. These devices produce lower-quality photos and videos, which complicates deepfake detection. Gregory explains that initial detection tools were trained on high-quality media, making them less effective with lower-resolution content.
“A lot of the initial deepfake detection tools were trained on high quality media,” says Gregory.
#### Sensitivity to Real-World Conditions
Gregory also notes that some models are so sensitive that background noise or video compression can lead to false positives or negatives. This is problematic because these conditions are common in real-world scenarios.
“But those are exactly the circumstances you encounter in the real world, rough and tumble detection,” he says.
#### Inaccurate Free Tools
Most journalists and fact-checkers rely on free public-facing tools for detecting deepfakes. However, these tools often struggle with low-quality material and lack representation in their training data.
### The Prevalence of Cheapfakes
#### Common Manipulations
Generative AI isn’t the only method for creating fake media. Cheapfakes—media manipulated by adding misleading labels or editing audio/video—are also prevalent in regions like the Global South but can be mistakenly flagged as AI-generated by faulty models.
### Policy Implications and Resource Constraints
#### Risk of Inflated Numbers
Diya expresses concern that using inaccurate tools could lead to inflated numbers of flagged content from outside Europe and North America. This could prompt policymakers to address non-existent issues.
“There’s a huge risk in terms of inflating those kinds of numbers,” she says.
#### Limited Access to Resources
Building effective detection models requires significant computational resources not available everywhere. Ngamita from Ghana highlights this challenge:
“If you talk about AI and local solutions here, it’s almost impossible without the compute side of things for us to even run any of our models that we are thinking about coming up with.”
### Collaborative Efforts for Verification
Ngamita’s team collaborates with a European university for content verification due to limited local resources. They compile datasets from across Africa to help diversify model training data but face delays:
“The lag time is quite significant,” says Diya.
### Focus Beyond Detection
Gregory mentions Witness’s rapid response program receiving numerous cases but struggling with timely handling due to volume:
“It’s already challenging to handle those in the time frame that frontline journalists need.”
Diya argues funding should support news outlets and civil society organizations rather than focusing solely on detection technologies:
“I don’t think that’s where the money is going… I think it is going more into detection.”
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Understanding the Basics of Script Loading
Introduction to Script Loading
Loading scripts efficiently is crucial for optimizing web performance. Scripts can be loaded in various ways, and each method has its own impact on how quickly a webpage renders.
Asynchronous Script Loading
One common approach is asynchronous script loading. This method allows the browser to continue parsing HTML while the script loads in the background, reducing delays.
The Role of Performance Marking
What is Performance Marking?
Performance marking involves using specific functions to measure and analyze different stages of webpage loading. It helps developers identify bottlenecks and optimize load times.
“If window.performance and typeof window.performance.mark == ‘function’, then window.performance.mark(‘tbl_ic’);”
This quote highlights a practical example of performance marking in action.
Origin Trials: Enhancing Web Features
Origin trials allow developers to test new web features before they become standard. By including specific meta tags, websites can experiment with cutting-edge functionalities safely.
The Importance of Ad Scripts
Ad scripts are essential for monetizing content but must be managed carefully to avoid slowing down page load times. Using async attributes ensures ads load without blocking other elements on the page.
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Understanding the Basics of Web Development
Introduction to Web Development
Web development is the process of creating websites and web applications for the internet. It involves a variety of tasks, from coding and programming to designing user interfaces.
The Role of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
HTML (HyperText Markup Language) forms the structure of web pages. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is used for styling these pages, while JavaScript adds interactivity.
Key Components in Web Development
Front-End vs. Back-End Development
- Front-End: This focuses on what users see and interact with on a website.
- Back-End: This deals with server-side operations like databases and server logic.
The Importance of Responsive Design
Responsive design ensures that websites work well on various devices, from desktops to smartphones. It's crucial for providing a good user experience across different screen sizes.
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." - Alan Kay