Logically launches tool to identify and combat fake news ahead of US elections
In the current era of misinformation and fake news, we want to find credibility and confidence in the news we read. Now, a new AI tool can help people, platforms, and governments identify misinformation across the internet.
UK-based fact-checking social enterprise Logically has launched its Chrome browser extension, which allows users to analyze and evaluate the credibility of online articles, fact-check dubious claims, and highlight toxic comments on social platforms.
The extension works across over 160,000 news sites and social platforms to identify the credibility of stories and provide fact-checking into news stories.
Users can also set preferences on types of toxic content. If a post is deemed toxic, the post will be labeled and obscured.
The browser extension labels the credibility of any source (low, medium, high) and article (reliable, unreliable) and establishes the sentiment of the story. It also highlights key people, places, topics, and institutions behind the headlines to give a more Immersive understanding of any story.
A Related Articles tab allows users to browse and click through to articles on the same topic from different sources to enhance their knowledge on the issue.
The extension utilizes multiple AI models, alongside natural language processions (NLP), to process, understand, and analyze text. It analyzes content from over 100,000 sources and 500,000 articles per day to evaluate possible indicator of an article's accuracy and specific claims in the text. Logically analyzes the network, content, and metadata to reach its conclusions.
It will fact-check claims in news sources for users who click on the Logically extension icon, select the Fact Check tab, and selects a claim that has already populated or enters the claim manually.
All fact checks returned are evidenced by at least three sources/URLs and can be shared to Facebook or Twitter.
In India, the company analyzed over one million articles and identified 50 thousand fake stories during the last election campaign. It found 14% to be unreliable and 25% to be fake. It also identified the origin of the 5G COVID-19 conspiracy.
Working across Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube, the Logically extension fact-checks and determines the toxicity level of social posts and commentary.
If a post is deemed toxic, the post will be labeled and obscured.
An icon next to the post helps the user to understand why the post has been obscured and users can personalize the level to which they are exposed to these posts in the future. Claims found on social platforms can be fact-checked using the extension.
The company is accredited by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which promotes best practices and fact-checking initiatives. The fact-checking team can turn round individual requests within 24 hours and will include an automated insights and research assistant app by mid-August.
Lyric Jain, founder and CEO of Logically, said:
"With the ease of online publishing today, it is becoming harder for people to determine which sources are credible and which aren't, leading the way for toxic news to travel faster than truth.
Our goal is to stop the spread of misinformation by empowering people with tools that help them cope with information overload by assessing the credibility and veracity of sources.
We want to ensure people see both sides of an issue by providing context, and to keep elections fair by providing facts while mitigating threats and influence operations."
Using AI and human intelligence to credibly curate news and social discourse is a huge step forward. Solving the issue of misinformation, and fake news spreading that plagues the world today is a huge step.