Now the city of Västerås wants to draw its line in the hype and the fight against fake AI images and misinformation.
In a joint campaign with seven other public actors in Västmanland, the municipality is starting a campaign these days to spread information about source security.
– This is a societal issue that we need to raise in order to strengthen resilience in society in general, says Sara Eklind.
It is already possible to see the AI-generated image and the city’s tips against false information on the municipality’s Facebook, Linkedin and on digital notice boards in the city centre.
– We want to get people to react to the image, says Sara Eklind, who believes that disinformation uses psychological tricks to make us more gullible.
Want to scare people
The trick that is often used, according to the campaign, is to make people stressed, worried, afraid or angry so that they become more gullible. Then it becomes easier for us to go for things that we wouldn’t otherwise trust.
– In addition, the false information is often embedded in true information, which makes the stories easier to believe and harder to disprove, says Sara Eklind.
The plan is to follow up with the same message on Instagram and in an advertisement in a local newspaper. The other actors are also spreading the message in their channels and social media.
It is the first time that the actors have done a campaign like this together and Sara Eklind hopes for a continuation.
– This is a first step. Ideally, I would like to see a similar campaign twice a year, preferably in connection with the preparedness week, she says.
Västeråsare about the city’s AI campaign: “I trust the images I look at”