BIGFOOT was finally discovered in 2009 – at least, according to rumours circulating on Twitter. With misinformation rife on social media, users could do with a tool that can sift truth from fiction.
Now Sejeong Kwon and colleagues at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Daejeon have designed an AI system that, they claim, does this correctly around 90 per cent of the time. If built into social networks, it could help us avoid embarrassing retweets or reshares.
The system analysed language used in more than 100 rumours – some later confirmed, others unfounded – that went viral on Twitter over a period of three and a half years. The researchers found that false rumours were far more likely to contain negative terms such as "no" or "not" than positive terms such as "like" or "love".
Being mentioned in "singleton" tweets – ones that were neither retweeted nor replied to – was another indicator of false content. Indeed, the best predictor that something was false was that it was tweeted separately by many users; accurate stories tended to have a few, widely retweeted sources.
The findings were presented at the International Conference on Data Mining in Dallas, Texas, earlier this month.
This article appeared in print under the headline "AI tool predicts when not to trust the Twitterati"
- Subscribe to New Scientist and you'll get:
- New Scientist magazine delivered every week
- Unlimited access to all New Scientist online content -
a benefit only available to subscribers - Great savings from the normal price
- Subscribe now!
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
