AI deep lies and ‘weaponized weather’ misinformation target storm victims

In the wake of Hurricane Helene, a wave of both AI-generated and human-driven misinformation continues to flood social media, distorting the reality of recovery efforts and creating new and unfounded fears about Hurricane Milton.

According to Politifact, a nonpartisan fact-checking site, since Hurricane Helene made landfall last month, social media has become ground zero for the spread of misinformation, amplifying false narratives. And now, with Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida's Gulf Coast, a new rumor is sweeping X and Facebook.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's tweet last week, perhaps fueling conspiracy theories that unknown people are “controlling the weather,” is now echoing her surprising claim that the new hurricane is man-made.

This is the latest example of how people are using social media to highlight lies and misinformation—often with profound AI-generated disinformation. In one example, which has been shared more than 164,000 times on Facebook, an AI-generated image shows Trump helping with flooding from Hurricane Helene. Another shows President Biden rescuing cats.

We always see a level of misinformation or confusion when dealing with such a large response. This is just the nature of play and risk. Clearly, this year is through the roof” said Cathy Balleger, regional communications director for the American Red Cross, to Decrypt. “So we started a big social media push to educate people and hit them directly. We don't dance around anything. We are calling out false information and giving correct information.

She said that the spread of wrong information on Facebook and Twitter is particularly worrying.

One AI-generated image of a little girl holding a puppy, shared by RNC National Committeewoman Amy Cramer, has been viewed more than three million times on X.

Twitter users used the “community notes” feature to highlight that the image was fake.

“Lie Generative AI technology has been called the ‘ultimate disinformation amplifier,'” according to a community note. “Therefore, it is important to identify such false images, especially when they are used by politicians.”

Balenger said that the Red Cross itself was targeted by wrong information and questioned whether it was even present at the scene. “There are also complaints that we are misusing material donations given to the Red Cross,” she said.

As always, the best way to combat rumors and AI-generated deep lies is to proactively share accurate and up-to-date information through official communication channels and trusted sources.

A spokesperson for the City of Asheville Fire Department told Decrypt, “We rely on getting accurate information through our channels and our partners' channels to combat rumors. “People should follow official channels to get the most up-to-date and accurate information.”

As the problem worsened, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released rumors and fake lists on social media to correct misinformation.

But there is one silver lining to how new information technology is used. Monica Youngman, Chief Scientist b Integration of science and technology as if National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationsaid AI is being used to translate and disseminate facts about severe weather events in more than five different languages.

“It definitely helps with that and helps reach communities that we haven't been able to reach before,” she told Decrypt. Not having English as their first language has many implications for communities. So what we're trying to do is make sure they get authoritative, reliable information so they can understand it as quickly and easily as possible.