Artificial intelligence-generated content continues to flood the internet from various sources. From social media posts to scientific papers, all kinds of blogs and websites, and even product reviews on sites like Amazon. In this context, having AI detectors becomes very useful when, for whatever reason, we need to check who actually authored a text: a person or a machine.
Being able to accurately detect text characteristics will allow us to draw conclusions about its potential validity, quality, and authority, as we know full well that content generated by artificial intelligence can contain all kinds of errors, falsehoods, or fabrications. Therefore, users of Mozilla's Firefox browser can now use a new extension called Fakespot, which is an expert in assessing the likelihood that content has been artificially generated.
As their website indicates, Fakespot is a very ambitious project, as they are working on "a fundamental model for detecting deep fake content on the web". However, for now, Fakespot seems to be focusing on detecting fake reviews on Amazon and other online stores like BestBuy or Sephora. We can use it as a complement to other extensions that detect fake content on networks and websites, such as the AI Content Detector add-on for Google Chrome.
This extension can have very different uses. On the one hand, we can all imagine the case of a teacher grading a student's work, but we can go further: Fakespot claims to be able to detect fake reviews on shopping sites like Amazon, which will allow us to get a better idea of the product we're considering purchasing.
Fakespot isn't just available as an extension: we can also download the mobile app for Android or iPhone, as well as use it on the web by entering the URL of the product we're interested in. It's also compatible with the Amazon portal in Spanish.
The problem of fake reviews
Nowadays, it can be relatively easy to manipulate the comments, reviews, star ratings, or ratings sections on the product pages of many online stores. Using bots and other automation strategies, it's possible to attempt to fill product listings with fake reviews to encourage others to trust these comments and buy the product.
Therefore, having tools that allow us to detect these fake reviews at first glance will save us time and money by allowing us to focus only on comments from previous, real buyers. We can often distrust perfect reviews that don't include any criticism, even constructive ones, of the product in question. Good reviews will objectively comment on a product's advantages and disadvantages.
Creating good reviews takes time and effort, which is why Amazon has exclusive programs to reward users who provide quality reviews.
We find this same problem with reviews on other online e-commerce giants like AliExpress, Shein, portals like Trustpilot, and many other sites. It's essential to check not only reviews but also other information about the seller to ensure we're not receiving damaged or counterfeit products. It also helps if reviews include photos or more personal content, which shows us that the seller is a real seller.
