Air Force Turns to Machine Learning to Fight COVID-19 Disinformation – IAM Network

Air Force personnel are set to soon be equipped with machine learning-driven capabilities to better counter COVID-19-connected disinformation.Building on a prior falsehoods-fighting pursuit and as part of a larger solicitation launched in April, the branch recently awarded machine intelligence startup Primer a $1 million, phase II Small Business Innovation Research, or SBIR, contract that'll underpin the integration of new solutions.The work is set to be formally announced in November, Nextgov confirmed late last week. "In any crisis, it is hard to verify information quickly," Primer's CEO and Founder Sean Gourley explained. "In a global crisis like the pandemic, where certain countries are actively spreading disinformation, speed and scale are the biggest issues, which machine learning can help with."Gourley Disinformation refers to falsities spread with the deliberate intent to deceive and mislead.