By Liz Stahl, Extension Educator – Crops
It is not too often – okay, it has never happened before – that I get an email with the subject line “Is any of this true”. However, that is exactly what I received last week.
Someone emailed me last week about a video posted to YouTube that was making some pretty sensational claims about research that was supposedly conducted at one of the University of Minnesota’s Research and Outreach Centers. I was suspicious from the beginning as research I didn’t recognize, at all, was being discussed. The alleged research sounded pretty incredible and it didn’t seem like something I could see us (or anyone else) realistically doing. The language used in the video was a bit sensationalized, but I did my due diligence and checked with my colleague who was cited in the video to verify. This faculty member confirmed that indeed, we at University of Minnesota have never done a study like that, and they had no idea who created this video. Someone, or something, made a video using fabricated information, while claiming we were the source of the information.
I consulted with our communications team who helped confirm the video was artificial intelligence or a.i. “slop”.
I am not going to cite the exact video as I don’t want to feed it any more views than it already has. Instead, I am writing this as a cautionary tale, particularly in this world of a.i.
Because it can be difficult to discern when information generated by a.i. is accurate or not, I encourage you to get your information straight from the source whenever possible. University of Minnesota researchers and educators strive to generate the best research and information we can in order to assist farmers and ag professionals in their operations and decision-making, while focusing on long-term productivity, sustainability, and protecting and enhancing the environment. We provide numerous opportunities throughout the year to access this information directly from us through field days, workshops, webinars, online content from our websites, and so on.
Great places to hear directly from University of Minnesota Extension crops researchers and educators include our Extension Crops Website, MN Crop News, and our Strategic Farming program, as well as the many Extension events held throughout the state each year. If you have a local Extension Educator in your county, feel free to contact them if you have a particular question. Feel free to contact others in Extension as well if you have questions or concerns you would like addressed.
It is very challenging to combat mis-and dis-information, but one of the first steps to help ensure you are getting the real thing is to seek research-based, scientifically sound information from reliable sources such as your local land-grant University. I also want to thank my colleague Claire LaCanne, Regional Extension Educator – Crops out of Andover, for reviewing this article and offering great suggestions too. Peer review - this is another part of the process we do in science and scientific communication!
It is not too often – okay, it has never happened before – that I get an email with the subject line “Is any of this true”. However, that is exactly what I received last week.
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| The UMN Extension Crops Website is a key source of crop-related research and information |
Someone emailed me last week about a video posted to YouTube that was making some pretty sensational claims about research that was supposedly conducted at one of the University of Minnesota’s Research and Outreach Centers. I was suspicious from the beginning as research I didn’t recognize, at all, was being discussed. The alleged research sounded pretty incredible and it didn’t seem like something I could see us (or anyone else) realistically doing. The language used in the video was a bit sensationalized, but I did my due diligence and checked with my colleague who was cited in the video to verify. This faculty member confirmed that indeed, we at University of Minnesota have never done a study like that, and they had no idea who created this video. Someone, or something, made a video using fabricated information, while claiming we were the source of the information.
I consulted with our communications team who helped confirm the video was artificial intelligence or a.i. “slop”.
I am not going to cite the exact video as I don’t want to feed it any more views than it already has. Instead, I am writing this as a cautionary tale, particularly in this world of a.i.
Because it can be difficult to discern when information generated by a.i. is accurate or not, I encourage you to get your information straight from the source whenever possible. University of Minnesota researchers and educators strive to generate the best research and information we can in order to assist farmers and ag professionals in their operations and decision-making, while focusing on long-term productivity, sustainability, and protecting and enhancing the environment. We provide numerous opportunities throughout the year to access this information directly from us through field days, workshops, webinars, online content from our websites, and so on.
Great places to hear directly from University of Minnesota Extension crops researchers and educators include our Extension Crops Website, MN Crop News, and our Strategic Farming program, as well as the many Extension events held throughout the state each year. If you have a local Extension Educator in your county, feel free to contact them if you have a particular question. Feel free to contact others in Extension as well if you have questions or concerns you would like addressed.
It is very challenging to combat mis-and dis-information, but one of the first steps to help ensure you are getting the real thing is to seek research-based, scientifically sound information from reliable sources such as your local land-grant University. I also want to thank my colleague Claire LaCanne, Regional Extension Educator – Crops out of Andover, for reviewing this article and offering great suggestions too. Peer review - this is another part of the process we do in science and scientific communication!
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