Lucas Graves, a research specialising in fact-checking, predicts that demand for fact verification will grow in the coming years, driven by the spread of content generated by artificial intelligence and by an information ecosystem saturated with disinformation. In an interview with Agência Lusa, following his participation in a conference organised by IBERIFIER at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, on 20 February, Graves stressed that citizens increasingly need to know whether videos of public statements are true or false, particularly in the political sphere. You can watch the full presentation by Lucas Graves on the IBERIFIER YouTube channel.
Graves also offered a critical assessment of major technology platforms, arguing that in the past they supported fact-checking programmes largely for public relations reasons, but are now withdrawing that support or diluting correction mechanisms. In this view, the initial push for fact-checking in 2016 was prompted by public and political pressure following events such as the US elections and Brexit, rather than by a sustained commitment to independent verification.
The researcher highlighted the main challenge now facing fact-checkers: with reduced funding and weaker integration within platforms, it is becoming essential to strengthen direct engagement with the public in order to preserve the relevance and usefulness of their work.
Lucas Graves is the author of books including Deciding What’s True, in which he explains the reasons behind the growth of fact-checking and how truth emerges from procedures and methodologies rather than from access to raw facts alone.
Last year, he joined University Carlos III, in Madrid, after a long academic career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The University Carlos III is a member of the IBERIFIER consortium.
