AI4Trust, artificial intelligence against misinformation

Fake news about climate, health and wars. In an era where information flows freely and the truth is frequently drowned out by digital noise, it’s crucial to adopt new strategies to tackle the growing challenge of manipulated and misleading content that spreads rapidly. This awareness led to the creation of AI4Trust, a project coordinated by Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) and funded by the European Union. The project aims to develop a platform capable of identifying and combating online misinformation by combining artificial intelligence with the work of journalists and fact-checkers.

Riccardo Gallotti, the project coordinator and FBK Science Ambassador, discussed AI4Trust as a guest on Progress with Sky TG24, hosted by Alberto Giuffrè. He was joined by Nicola Bruno from Open the Box and Andrea Dambrosio from Sky TG24.

AI4Trust, a three-year research initiative launched in 2023 under the Horizon Europe program, involves 17 partner organizations across 11 countries, including universities, research centers, NGOs, media outlets, and government bodies. Coordinated by FBK, the project is focused on developing a technology platform that merges human expertise with artificial intelligence to identify, track, and counter the spread of online disinformation. The goal is to create a practical tool for journalists, fact-checkers, and policymakers that can detect potentially false or misleading content in real-time across digital media and social networks. The platform employs machine learning, natural language processing, and techniques to detect audio-video manipulation, ensuring transparency, interoperability, and alignment with European values while defending freedom of expression.

Gallotti shared that AI4Trust is currently testing the daily collection of news in eight languages, concentrating on three areas particularly vulnerable to misinformation: climate change, public health, and migrant conditions.   The algorithms developed can identify suspicious content, analyze language, and assess potential harm from misinformation, providing fact-checkers with valuable support in selecting news to verify. Additionally, the project features an advanced interface to assist journalists and policymakers in exploring the landscape of misinformation.

During the interview, Gallotti highlighted the increasing challenges in accessing data from digital platforms: “The landscape has changed radically in the past three years. Twitter, now X, no longer offers free data access. Meta has discontinued essential analysis tools, and new platforms have emerged.”

One potential solution lies in the European Digital Services Act, which mandates greater transparency and data access for researchers by large digital platforms. “We’ve submitted multiple access requests,” Gallotti said, “but so far, we’ve had no success. It’s clear that a clearer and more effective procedure is needed. Despite these challenges, we remain hopeful and optimistic that in the coming months, we can finally establish a productive dialogue with the platforms.”

AI4Trust is part of a broader European initiative focused on combating disinformation, particularly on sensitive global issues. In a time when artificial intelligence is increasingly used to generate fake content, the project seeks to become a reliable, concrete tool to strengthen quality information and protect public debate.

Watch the full interview here: https://video.sky.it/news/tecnologia/video/ai4trust-intelligenza-artificiale-contro-la-disinformazione-997269