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How a Small But Vocal Minority of Social Media Users Distort Reality and Sow Division
Researchers at New York University have concluded that social media is not an accurate reflection of society, but more like a funhouse mirror distorted by a small but vocal minority of extreme outliers. It’s a
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New Research Finds Trans Teens Have High Satisfaction With Gender Care
A study published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics finds that transgender teenagers who have pursued medical interventions like puberty blockers and hormones are highly satisfied with their care. “Regret was very rare,” says lead author Kristina Olson, a psychology professor at
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Why Disasters Like Hurricanes Milton and Helene Unleash So Much Misinformation
While Florida recovers from Hurricane Milton, the second dangerous storm to hit the U.S. Southeast in just a couple of weeks, a flood of misinformation threatens to compound the disasters. A major target of false
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Combating Misinformation Runs Deeper Than Swatting Away ‘Fake News’
Americans are increasingly concerned about online misinformation, especially in light of recent news that the Justice Department seized 32 domains linked to a Russian influence operation interfering in U.S. politics, including the 2024 presidential election. Policy makers, pundits and the
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This Chatbot Pulls People Away From Conspiracy Theories
Shortly after generative artificial intelligence hit the mainstream, researchers warned that chatbots would create a dire problem: As disinformation became easier to create, conspiracy theories would spread rampantly. Now, researchers wonder if chatbots might also offer
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Chatbots Are Primed to Warp Reality
More and more people are learning about the world through chatbots and the software’s kin, whether they mean to or not. … Pataranutaporn and his fellow researchers recently sought to understand how chatbots could manipulate our understanding of the
