In the Modern Tower of Babel: Why Facts and Evidence Matter

In the original fable of the Tower of Babel, as punishment for attempting to build a tower into the heavens, the people were relegated to an inability to communicate, each speaking a different language. Hence the term "to Babel." The Modern Tower of Babel refers not to multiple languages but to the increasing spread of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news. We are increasingly disadvantaged in our ability to establish fact from fiction and truth from lies. This confusion is leading to the chaos we now see across many aspects of society: In medicine, should we vaccinate our children or not? In the health of our environment, are global warming and climate change a reality, or are they a hoax? And, of course, in politics, where anything seems permissible and truth is often discarded in favor of retaining power. But all is not lost. If we are smart enough to use modern technologies; such as AI; intelligently and with proper regulation, we can harness the wealth of information available to us and leverage modern tools to distinguish fact from fiction and rigorously evaluate evidence. But that will only happen if we use AI properly, and given our current course, that outcome is far from assured.