AI and education fighting against disinformation

April 7, 2026

As Anne Delaney writes, “[The inquiry into climate misinformation] has brought to light compelling evidence that misinformation and disinformation are not fringe phenomena, but structural features of today’s information ecosystem, amplified by digital platforms, political incentives and coordinated campaigns.” While Australians can feel proud that the inquiry is a world first, it did not go far enough. Without truth in political advertising laws, Australians will continue to be fed disinformation with impunity.

AI-driven bots on social media now have the widest reach, but AI is also being used to fight back. It can detect fake accounts and coordinated swarms by analysing behaviour and network patterns that no real group of humans could physically achieve. The UN now recognises information integrity in climate and energy as a major barrier to effective climate action.

Resilience to disinformation can be built through education, as in Finland, where schoolchildren are taught to identify and assess manipulative content. Given the significant investment of wealthy individuals, fossil fuel companies and conservative digital campaign organisations such as Advance, Australia should invest in similar resilience programs. This is especially urgent as election cycles intensify online manipulation and targeted messaging. References Resilience https://www.weforum.org/stories/2026/03/how-cognitive-manipulation-and-ai-will-shape-disinformation-in-2026/ Finland https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/28/fact-from-fiction-finlands-new-lessons-in-combating-fake-news