Why we should all be even more scared about digital disinformation than we already are

I have been working with colleagues Richard Hunter, Leigh McMullen, Andrew Frank and others for a few years now on the ‘World Without Truth’ issue. We have been discussing with, presenting to and learning from clients and experts. This will be published as a Gartner book shortly. Just in case anyone is feeling too happy on this lovely Saturday morning, I thought I would try to scare the **** out of everyone with some of the less obvious learnings that have come out of this work. 0. #DigitalDisinformation is a ‘meta-issue’ in that it affects all other issues. If we care about #climatechange and #sustainability, #geopolitics, #pandemics, #vaccinations and global health, #cybersecurity, or indeed any other issue, we first have to worry about avoiding/ minimizing both accidental #misinformation and deliberate #disinformation and its effects. 1. Yes, misinformation and disinformation have existed pretty much since humans have been communicating. But digital disinformation is different and much more scary. Because of the ability to reach billions of people almost instantly at almost no cost, the ability to create fakes of video/ audio/ identity/ everything, the ability to apply AI/ analytics and behavioural economics to mass customize and weaponize messages. 2. Deepfakes are the obvious, in-your-face, application of (generative) AI to disinformation. But arguably the use of AI and data to mass customize messages to hit each of us exactly where it hurts is even scarier. 3. The biggest prize for disinformers is not to simply land a false fact with us. It is to change our mental models so we make up our own false facts, make bad decisions, take bad actions, and even become repeaters/ amplifiers in the service of the disinformers. 4. The small lie can be scarier than the large lie. Small lies can sneak under our cognitive radars. And a series of small lies over time can add up to a very big lie. 5. Digital disinformation challenges both truth and trust. They are not the same thing. And maybe trust is even more important than truth in keeping our world together. 6. There is plenty of evidence that trust in conventional institutions, authority figures and experts is very low. And that particularly younger people are likely to trust ‘influencers’ more than them. Which exposes us to the danger of influencer misinformation. (Influencers who think they are/ behave as experts.) 7. There is hope on the horizon, with truthnets/ trustnet standards emerging that at least guarantee provenance of information/ messages. Wish everyone a happy, fun-filled weekend without a care in the world. #Unthink #Unask #Unlearn #WorldWIthoutTruth #Malinformation #AI #GenAI #Gartner