Jonathan and Chris talk to David Scales, MPhil, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell and the chief medical officer at Critica. Misinformation is everywhere and it is causing actual harm. But what can we do about it beyond recognizing the problem? Dr. Scales mentions a scientific solution that transposes to social media what we know can work in an in-person setting.

(3:34) Infodemiology

(8:54) Will artificial intelligence create a “fake news” problem?

(13:06) Vaccine hesitancy post-COVID

(17:59) Is misinformation a “disease” or a symptom?

(22:20) Top-down vs. grassroots approaches

(28:23) Social media vs. misinformation

(33:54) A scientific solution

(51:15) AI bots to the rescue?

* Theme music: “Fall of the Ocean Queen“ by Joseph Hackl.

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Links:

1) The book Dr. Scales mentioned: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51152447-caste

2) The Victor Pickard paper on public media funding in different countries: https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612211060255

3) The EMMIE program: https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/advice-and-prevention/vaccination/motivational-interviewing-in-maternity-for-the-immunization

4) Critica’s proposed protocol for countering scientific misinformation online: https://criticascience.org/the-critica-protocol/

5) The Critica website: https://criticascience.org/

6) David Scales on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tnfalpha.bsky.social