EU Green Capital Valencia will host 2024 edition of European Urban Resilience Forum
Crucial aspects of resilience, sustainable development and recovery will be under the thematic spotlight
The online space is already teeming with non-human conversation participants
In an ever-changing and ever-challenging digital era, the rise of bots and chatbots has ushered in a reign fraught with both promise and peril. Originally developed to enhance user experiences, these automated entities have, in recent times, increasingly been weaponised to propagate false narratives and manipulate public opinion.
Bots were first invented with the purpose of automatizing tasks and increasing efficiency, and to improve user experiences across various platforms and industries. By the nature of their algorithms, they can handle repetitive tasks faster and more consistently than any human ever could, thus leading to a decrease in terms of costs and an increase in productivity for businesses.
Additionally, bots were built to provide personalized assistance and guidance to users, enhancing their interaction with brands and the products and services they offer.
Bots have long been essential in optimising not only laborious repetitive tasks for businesses - saving them tons in terms of money and manpower, as well as time –, but also in enhancing user experiences across platforms by providing customers with guidance catered to their specific needs.
Furthermore, bots play a crucial role in data analysis, collecting and examining vast amounts of information in order to provide valuable information, pivotal for decision-making. However, their potential for misuse in spreading disinformation has become a significant reason for concern over the last decade.
At the forefront of this problem are social media platforms, where bots operate with alarming efficiency, amplifying misleading information, distorting reality and boosting content of this nature. Leveraging the algorithms and exploiting vulnerabilities in platform design, these bots infiltrate online portals, posing as authentic users while promulgating fake news, conspiracy theories, and propaganda.
Similarly, chatbots, designed to simulate human dialogue, have emerged on the web and now pervade online conversations where they serve as covert agents of disinformation. Through personalized interactions and by mimicking human behaviour, the chatbots engage the real users in tailored narratives, exploiting their vulnerabilities and reinforcing existing biases.
The effects of bot-driven disinformation are profound, undermining the credibility of news outlets, of the journalism profession, of governmental entities and the foundation of democracy as a whole.
In doing so, they corrode the trust the public has in those institutions, thus wreaking havoc upon society. And, in a time as politically challenging as 2024 is, with geopolitical conflicts boiling over across the globe, and political elections approaching, the impact could be catastrophic.
Combatting the whiplash of bot-driven disinformation requires a multangular approach. Tech companies must implement robust detection mechanisms to identify and alleviate the influence bots have on their platforms.
Additionally, regulatory frameworks must be developed and imposed to hold perpetrators of disinformation accountable and safeguard the integrity of online discourse. Moreover, education plays a crucial role in fostering an environment in which disinformation does not flourish.
Thus, ensuring support towards improving the media literacy rate and fostering critical thinking skills across all ages is elemental. With those two skills strongly developed within the general population, individuals would be more empowered and prone to discern fact from fiction and question the source of the information they encounter, as well as the motivation behind it.
This article is part of Read Twice – an EU-funded project, coordinated by Euro Advance Association that targets young people and aims to counter disinformation and fake news by enhancing their skills to assess critically information, identify vicious and harmful media content and distinguish between facts and opinions, thus improving their media literacy competences.
The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of its author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union nor of TheMayor.EU.
This, however, is likely to change soon
Crucial aspects of resilience, sustainable development and recovery will be under the thematic spotlight
The island is dead set on doing something about the problem of overtourism
This is city twinning for the 21st century
You can find it in the capital Sofia, where it was installed upon the initiative of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
People in both cities got to sit together both in person and virtually
An illegal landfill will turn into a parking lot for cars confiscated by the police
It also features fast-charging stations for e-buses
Crucial aspects of resilience, sustainable development and recovery will be under the thematic spotlight
A US geologist claims to have solved the centuries-old mystery
This is the day when all madrileños take local pride in their city and culture
And the results were immediate, two Sunday services had to be performed to accommodate the crowd
Urban dwellers across the EU are having a say in making their surroundings friendlier to people and the environment.
Forests in the EU can help green the European construction industry and bolster a continent-wide push for architectural improvements.
Apply by 10 November and do your part for the transformation of European public spaces
Catch up with some recommendations for the 2024 European Capital of Culture programme from the mayor of Tartu
An interview with the ICLEI regional director for Europe аfter the close of COP28
An interview with a member of the No Hate Speech Network team