Role of Artificial Intelligence in the Spread and Detection of Misinformation: Impacts on Youth in the Digital Age

Abstract

This paper explores the two-sided nature of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the spread and identification of misinformation, with a closerss examination of how technology affects young people in the digital era. The fast development of false information in social media sources can be a great danger to the level of knowledge and trust in society, particularly in young digital citizens that use the online sources regularly. Based on a quantitative research design data were collected using a survey conducted online on 173 youth participants between the age of 16- 30 years in Hisar, Haryana, India. The paper examined exposure of the participants to AI generated misinformation, knowledge of AI detecting tools, and the digital literacy behaviors such as verifying information prior to sharing. The inferential analysis and descriptive statistics demonstrated that more active social media users are highly exposed to misinformation. The results also show that the awareness of AI among young people is moderate as less than half of them know about the application of AI, and they are aware of little about the presence of tools to fight fake news. Nonetheless, learning digital literacy skills is high demand. There was no significant effect of gender verification behavior and AI awareness was equal between the age groups represented in the sample. This study highlights the need to produce integrated educational curriculums that improve critical thinking, as well as digital literacy, in young people alongside the creation of sophisticated AI-driven detection systems. The research is added to the knowledge of the multifaceted impact of AI on dynamic misinformation and provides policy and educational suggestions that would protect the youth in the changing digital information space.