AI for Nonprofits

Chapter 23Dealing with Mis/Disinformation

Based on insights from an interview with Adam Fivenson.

In today's digital, increasingly post-truth era, misinformation and disinformation spread like wildfire, creating significant challenges for nonprofits. Inaccurate information without the intent to deceive, or misinformation, quickly erodes the hard-won trust and credibility you've built with your supporters, volunteers, and stakeholders. Meanwhile, disinformation, or false information deliberately spread to mislead or manipulate, can be incredibly destructive and quickly escalate. Make no mistake, nonprofits are not immune to such attacks. In fact, nonprofits are increasingly the target of bad actors who may disagree with their work, feel slighted by exclusion or the loss of access to support services, or believe the work of the nonprofit would be better done by others.

With the rise of AI, combating these challenges simply cannot be ignored, and action requires a blend of technology and strategy. Combatting this manually isn't an option, as the internet is too broad, too fragmented, and too complex for any one individual or team to be able to monitor discourse at scale. The advent of AI exacerbates this challenge in part because it multiplies the amount of content online, since producing that content is so much cheaper and easier. So, nonprofits need to understand how AI helps monitor, identify, and respond to false information. Whether it's a coordinated attack or an innocent ...