Bot Swarms · January 2026
AI-powered software is helping misinformation spread online after disasters
Before investigators even reached the wreckage of the deadly UPS plane crash in Louisville, social media was already flooded with AI-generated firefighter footage and fake obituaries, including claims that relatives of Kid Rock died in the crash. The grief was real; the pixels were not. And since every fake engagement still pays the poster a few cents, the machines keep mourning on autopilot.
Source: NPR (via WCMU Public Media)