Many Quebecers fear growing misinformation coming from AI

More than half of Quebecers believe that artificial intelligence will bring more disinformation, reports a Léger survey. Paradoxically, the number of Quebecers who distrust traditional media has increased over the past year.

No less than 55% of Quebecers believe that generative artificial intelligence, that is to say “models or algorithms capable of generating text, images or videos from a large quantity of data”, bring no more misinformation.

“People don’t pay enough attention to where information comes from. We must avoid sharing a photo of a person with six fingers,” explains Mr. Chalifoux.

According to the International Network of Journalists, AI can spread fake news by tapping into inaccurate or false sources and flooding the web with large numbers of low-quality articles. It is becoming more difficult for readers to find reliable information.

Drop in confidence

Although Quebecers fear disinformation, more and more of them are wary of traditional media.

“People who believe that traditional media manipulate the information they broadcast are significantly more numerous than last year,” comments Éric Chalifoux, consulting director of the firm Léger, who carried out a survey for UQAM on media and disinformation including The Journal got a copy.

One in two Quebecers (50%) believe that it is “definitely or probably true” that traditional media manipulate information, compared to 44% last year. An increase that makes Patrick White, professor at the UQAM Media School, who commissioned this survey for the conference on media education which begins Wednesday in Montreal, jump.

“When we think that people no longer have access to news on Facebook because of the blocking of Meta, I wonder how people will be able to get properly informed if they turn their backs on the news media,” he said. he.

More suspicious in Quebec

The survey, carried out among 1,006 people from September 13 to 15, reveals that the Quebec region is even more suspicious than the rest of the population when it comes to information from traditional media that circulates on social networks. “Half of respondents do not have or have little confidence in these publications, while the proportion is much lower in the Montreal region (42%) and even in all of Quebec (44%),” continues Mr. Chalifoux.

“I don’t think we can attribute this particularity to the populist radio stations in Quebec. We know that the population there is more conservative than elsewhere, but it remains mysterious,” concedes Mr. White.

The crisis of media confidence revealed by this survey must be responded to through education, claims Mr. White. “Journalists, parents and teachers have a colossal job to do to restore a better image of the news media,” he says.

Other data from the survey

Government conspiracy and thought control

• A third of Quebecers believe that the government is lying to us about the harm of vaccines, reveals the Léger survey released today by UQAM.
• If the proportion of people who believe it has decreased over the last year (32% compared to 34%), this is not the case for other conspiracy theories, which are gaining popularity.
• For example, more people (+2%) believe that technologies allowing thought control are used without their knowledge.
• We note an increase of 4% of respondents who adhere to the idea that immigration is deliberately organized to “ultimately lead to the replacement of the Canadian population by an immigrant population”.
• And one in five people believe that the spread of the coronavirus is a “deliberate attempt by a group of powerful people to take control over the population”, up 5% in one year.