In this undated photo, a student tries Hyphen's AI-enabled learning system at a brand-upgrading conference in Beijing. (PHOTO / CHINA DAILY)
Artificial intelligence is taking the strain at several high-technology companies as staff switch to working from home because of movement restrictions triggered by the fight against the novel coronavirus.
Major websites, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, are reportedly relying on AI and other automated tools most heavily to find and remove inappropriate content on their platforms.
The BBC reports that the tech giants have admitted their additional reliance on AI could lead to some mistakes being made in the removal of harmful content.
Major websites, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, are reportedly relying on AI and other automated tools most heavily to find and remove inappropriate content on their platforms
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The companies are especially keen to remove fake news related to the virus, the broadcaster said.
Twitter issued a statement saying the machine-learning apparatus it is now relying on and the increased automation of content screening may "sometimes lack the context that our teams bring, and this may result in us making mistakes".
The company said, as a result of the fallibility of AI systems, it will not permanently ban any users because of removed posts.
Facebook said in a blog post: "With fewer people available for human review, we'll continue to prioritize imminent harm and increase our reliance on proactive detections in other areas."
Google, which owns YouTube, ordered its entire worldwide full-time work force to work from home because of the pandemic.
"This means automated systems will start removing some content without human review," YouTube said in a blog.
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The company said all users will be able to appeal against decisions made by the automated systems and have them reversed if they are found to be wrong at a later date.
The United Kingdom's government has spoken of the importance of countering misinformation during the novel coronavirus outbreak, although the nation's cross-party Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee has questioned why Downing Street took two months to set up a special unit dedicated to countering the spread of disinformation.
