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                                        Sternian Andrew Eborn has carved out an incredible career in the media appearing regularly as a speaker at live events and on various television channels around the world. He also presents and chairs various events and podcasts for a number of leading organisations including the Royal Television Society. President of Octopus TV, Andrew is also an international lawyer, strategic business adviser, author and futurist. For several years, he has successfully predicted major events, developments in business, media, sports and technology as well as global election results with alarming accuracy. Here, Andrew reflects on fake news and the rise of AI and what we can do to ensure we are not misinformed.Fake NewsWe are living in a diseased information age, drowning in a sea of misinformation and disinformation. As Mark Twain warned ‘If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed’.Trust in politicians, in the media, and in society is at an all-time low. Global concern is mounting regarding misinformation and its potential impact on political, economic, and social stability. There has never been a greater time to ensure that we question everything.Lies Spread Faster than TruthA study by Saroush Vosoughi, Deb Roy and Sinan Aral delved into the dynamics of false news propagation by using data from an 11-year period, encompassing around 126,000 rumours disseminated by approximately 3 million users. The study revealed that false information reached a larger audience compared to the truth, with the top 1% of false news reaching between 1,000 and 100,000 while truthful information rarely reached beyond 1,000 people. The study also found that lies spread at a faster pace than the truth confirming Samuel Langhorne Clemens’ observation that ‘a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes’. In 2017, ‘fake news’ became Collins Dictionary’s word of the year. In 2023, Collins Dictionary chose ‘AI’ as its word of the year. AI is fake news’ greatest weapon…What is Artificial Intelligence?Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the development of computer systems that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. AI is our greatest human achievement but also potentially our biggest existential threat. It is already making seismic changes across all aspects of our lives. Professor Stephen Hawking warned that the development of full AI could spell the end of the human race. He suggested it would be the biggest event in human history, but it might also be the last. The pace of AI is faster than any technology in history.I talk around the world advocating the benefits of AI and the tremendous opportunities it presents. Understanding both the threats and opportunities presented by AI is essential. There are various issues that need to be addressed including security, copyright, data protection, avoiding discrimination, disinformation, and hallucinations. AI is the most disruptive force in history. It is smarter than the smartest human. AI was one of the main issues in the recent writers’ and actors’ strikes in Hollywood and investment bank Goldman Sachs estimates that AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs and a quarter of the work tasks in the US & Europe will be lost to AI. That said, 60% of today’s workers are in jobs that did not exist in 1940. The reality is that AI is already creating new jobs. FEATUREFake News and the Rise of AIFuturist and Sternian Andrew Eborn, encourages us to question everything in this new digital age.32

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