In recent weeks, Facebook and YouTube have strained to explain why they won't ban Alex Jones' Infowars, which has used its verified accounts to spread false news and dangerous conspiracy theories on the platforms. Meanwhile, the midterms are approaching, and Facebook won't say definitively whether the company has found any efforts by foreign actors to disrupt the elections. Facebook did recently say that it will start to remove misinformation if it may lead to violence, a response to worrisome trends in Myanmar, India, other countries. The social media platforms are being called on to explain how they deal with information that is wrong--a question made even more complicated because the problem takes so many forms. To understand the many forms of misinformation and disinformation on social media, we recently spoke with Claire Wardle, the executive director of First Draft, a nonprofit news-literacy and fact-checking outfit based at Harvard University's Kennedy School, for Slate's tech podcast If Then. We discussed how fake news spreads on different platforms, where it's coming from, and how journalists might think--or rethink--their role in covering it. The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Listen to If Then by clicking the arrow on the audio player below, or get the show via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

'Kimmy is... Little Girl, Big City!' Episode 401 -- Pictured: Jane Krakowski as Jacqueline White -- (Photo by: Eric Liebowitz/Netflix/Universal Television/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) Social roboticist, Heather Knight, sees robots and entertainment a research-rich coupling. So she programmed a charming humanoid robot named DATA with jokes, and equipped it with sensors and algorithmic capabilities to help with timing and gauging a crowd. Then Knight and DATA hit the road on an international robot stand-up comedy tour. Their act landed stage time at a TED conference and Knight was profiled in Forbes 30 Under 30. Watching Data perform is much like watching an amateur stand-up comedian cutting her/his chops at an open mic night doing light comedy with a sweet but wooden delivery.

The science fiction multiverse is well populated by all manner of robots. Pick your favorite: Dr. Who fans may favor K9, the Time Lord's mechanical mutt. Maybe the Transformers represent the coolest robots in the galaxy. The more literary-minded might prefer a character like R. Daneel Olivaw out of the Asimov universe. Those of us from a certain generation, however, will always have an affection for the Laurel and Hardy of robots--C-3PO and RD-D2.

In the movies, transformers destroy cities. A rolling robot doctor called Amplus can help heal them, its creator says. Amplus is an advanced remote-operated vehicle, or ROV, that inspects water, wastewater and industrial pipes. The device can access points as narrow as 4 inches (about 100 millimeters) and crawl through lines regardless of flow or pressure. The 16-inch-long Amplus debuted at the American Waterworks Association (AWWA) conference in June, and was on display this month at Singapore International Water Week. Amplus is for real-time pipeline assessment.

Lenovo will start shipping the first Google Assistant smart display this weekend, marking the birth of a new range of products that could eventually include some of Echo Show's staunchest rivals. Similar to what Echo Show does, Google's smart displays will give you a way to interact with the tech giant's voice assistant in a visual way. We first met the new devices at CES this year, where we were impressed with their ability to instantly display maps and send them to your phone when you ask for directions. Certainly beats listening and trying to visualize them. Here's another instance where a smart display can be much easier to use than a smart speaker: Assistant will also provide a step-by-step visual aid for recipes you look up that you can follow on screen.

Earlier this year, my home was infested with smart speakers--I've used a lot of them at this point. But I've never used an Alexa device as dedicated to the cause as the Polk Command Bar, a soundbar that wants to be an Amazon Echo so badly that it's practically in cosplay. It's designed to look like engineers smushed an Amazon Echo Dot right into the center of it. In many ways, that's precisely what Polk did. Polk worked closely with Amazon's Alexa team for two years to design the Command Bar, and had to get special approval to place an Echo-style glowing blue ring, along with mute, volume, and action buttons front-and-center.

Cambridge University is launching a DeepMind Chair of Machine Learning, thanks to a benefaction from the world-leading British AI company – Google's DeepMind – whose IP was born within the globally acclaimed seat of learning. The new chair, to be based at Cambridge's Department of Computer Science and Technology, will build on the university's strengths in computer science and engineering and will be a focal point for the wide range of AI-related research taking place across the university. Cambridge researchers are designing systems that are cybersecure, model human reasoning, interact in affective ways with us, uniquely identify us by our face and give insights into our biological makeup. The first DeepMind chair is expected to take up their position in October 2019, following an international search by the department. The chair will have full academic freedom to pursue research in the field of machine learning.

Time and trust are challenges to overcome for many when considering new technologies and new ways of working. However, adoption of practical AI-based applications is rapidly increasing within professional services. Technology can't replace the human touch, or decision-making based on years of experience, but it can be used to help bookkeepers work more efficiently and grow their practice. So, what do businesses need to know to get started? Computer scientists are making strides in developing increasingly sophisticated AI-based applications and intelligent systems which mimic how humans work.

The decade belongs to the phenomenal rise of social media marketing and advertising. Thanks to Mary Meeker's insights on internet trends in 2018, marketing teams have a fair idea of how social media companies impact the way customers interact with their brands of choice. Social media marketing companies now rely on data that are collected and analyzed to create revenue opportunities across multiple marketing channels. Charged by the ever-widening expanse of social media platforms, channels, and applications-- the role of AI has grown many times over within a decade. AI is one of the fastest-growing technological segments, which has been used since 1990- and is still gaining rapid appreciation.

He studied English Literature and History at Sussex University before gaining a Masters in Newspaper Journalism from City University.