Never Mind The Deepfakes, Chatbots Have To Deal With Election Lies Being Free, While Truth Is Paywalled
techdirt.comNever Mind The Deepfakes, Chatbots Have To Deal With Election Lies Being Free, While Truth Is PaywalledThe article examines how AI chatbots struggle with election misinformation, not primarily through deepfakes but because reliable news sources block AI scraping while low-quality sites remain accessible. A NewsGuard study found 67% of top news sites block AI tools while 91% of low-quality sites allow✦ Read ad free and get the full MichaelFilter · $5.50Part of the MichaelFilter
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Unlock the full reading · $5.50 →The article examines how AI chatbots struggle with election misinformation, not primarily through deepfakes but because reliable news sources block AI scraping while low-quality sites remain accessible. A NewsGuard study found 67% of top news sites block AI tools while 91% of low-quality sites allow scraping, creating a situation where lies are free and truth is paywalled. This asymmetry means chatbots generate incorrect answers to basic election questions about 40% of the time, citing unreliable sources like Reddit or state propaganda.
Teaching:
• How students filter information in practice mirrors how AI filters sources—what you allow in shapes what comes out, making input curation a core skill
• The paywall problem applies to yoga: authentic lineage knowledge often lives behind barriers (teachers, books, tradition) while Instagram tips flood the feed
• Cueing around 'reliable sources' in the body—proprioception, breath, established alignment—versus chasing novel sensations from unvetted external cues
• Class theme on attention economics: practice trains you to discern signal from noise when the noise is louder, cheaper, and more accessible
Writing seeds:
• Essay: 'The Liar's Dividend in Asana'—how students dismiss legitimate correction as 'just your opinion' when misinformation is more accessible than lineage
• Shala Daily post comparing AI scraping blocks to gatekeeping in yoga: when authentic teaching is protected, does it become irrelevant or more valuable?
• Short piece on 'paywalled truth' in practice—why the hardest-won insights don't circulate freely and what that means for systems literacy
• Post exploring how practice is a method for building internal fact-checking: training the body to recognize what's true versus what's just available
Idea map:
• Systems literacy means understanding how information architectures shape outcomes—blocking quality sources from AI mirrors how attention economics distort practice discourse
• Embodiment as ground truth: the body's direct feedback is the unpaywalled source that can't be poisoned by bad actors or SEO spam
• Practice as method for developing discernment when the information environment is structurally compromised—repetition builds internal validation
• The mat as closed system where you control inputs: a counterpoint to the open web where lies outcompete truth through accessibility alone
Source: https://www.techdirt.com/2026/10/28/never-mind-the-deepfakes-chatbots-have-to-deal-with-election-lies-being-free-while-truth-is-paywalled/
Teaching:
• How students filter information in practice mirrors how AI filters sources—what you allow in shapes what comes out, making input curation a core skill
• The paywall problem applies to yoga: authentic lineage knowledge often lives behind barriers (teachers, books, tradition) while Instagram tips flood the feed
• Cueing around 'reliable sources' in the body—proprioception, breath, established alignment—versus chasing novel sensations from unvetted external cues
• Class theme on attention economics: practice trains you to discern signal from noise when the noise is louder, cheaper, and more accessible
Writing seeds:
• Essay: 'The Liar's Dividend in Asana'—how students dismiss legitimate correction as 'just your opinion' when misinformation is more accessible than lineage
• Shala Daily post comparing AI scraping blocks to gatekeeping in yoga: when authentic teaching is protected, does it become irrelevant or more valuable?
• Short piece on 'paywalled truth' in practice—why the hardest-won insights don't circulate freely and what that means for systems literacy
• Post exploring how practice is a method for building internal fact-checking: training the body to recognize what's true versus what's just available
Idea map:
• Systems literacy means understanding how information architectures shape outcomes—blocking quality sources from AI mirrors how attention economics distort practice discourse
• Embodiment as ground truth: the body's direct feedback is the unpaywalled source that can't be poisoned by bad actors or SEO spam
• Practice as method for developing discernment when the information environment is structurally compromised—repetition builds internal validation
• The mat as closed system where you control inputs: a counterpoint to the open web where lies outcompete truth through accessibility alone
Source: https://www.techdirt.com/2026/10/28/never-mind-the-deepfakes-chatbots-have-to-deal-with-election-lies-being-free-while-truth-is-paywalled/
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