A fact-checking and verification platform, Dubawa, has developed a chatbot that can help journalists, students, and media users verify information efficiently.

The move is part of efforts to counter the growing threat of misinformation, malinformation, and disinformation in the country.

During an outreach event at Unique Blossom Schools, Maitama, Abuja, Dubawa’s team exposed the students to the nuances of misinformation, and ways to responsibly interact with the media.

Temilade Onilede, the project manager for Dubawa Nigeria, explained the purpose and impact of the fact-checking chatbot in combating misinformation.

“Since AI is a new thing, we decided to use AI to solve the problem of information disorder,” Temilade said.

She noted that “Week for Truth” outreach, backed by the Netherlands Embassy has reached some journalists, media users, and students across the country providing them with practical tips on how to discern misinformation and leverage fact-checking.

-The Dubawa chatbot, a project for the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) is accessible to users who want to quickly verify potentially misleading or false information. “The chatbot has been effective. We’ve had a lot of users and we’ve had a lot of reviews,” Temilade noted.

Beyond the chatbot, Dubawa also launched another AI-driven tool, Dubawa Audio, a tool that helps journalists and fact-checkers evaluate audio content.

The tool analyzes audio and identifies statements that might need fact-checking, further enlarging the organization’s capabilities in fact-checking including the broadcast media.

Speaking on the future plans for Dubawa, Temilade revealed that Dubawa plans to sustain the initiative by introducing Media Information Literacy clubs in schools across West Africa and embedding fact-checking practices into school curricula in order to build an informed media-literate generation.

She added: “We intend to start media information literacy clubs in all schools across West Africa, it’s sort of like finding a way to ingrain the fact-checking curriculum in every school. So, that’s a step for us.

“So, if we have the clubs where the kids are, we will be able to enlighten them about misinformation, how to stop it, and the tools to use.

“And we are actually looking forward to take some of this initiative to other schools in Nigeria very soon, train these kids, and also implant all these MIL clubs in every school for the future.”