How can you spot false images on SNS? The true nature of the “amazing company” that Kumamoto prefectural government and TV stations rely on

If you use social media, you may have seen the accounts of TV stations and newspapers asking you to follow the posts of ordinary people who have attached videos and photos of disaster-stricken areas. Sometimes I wonder, ``Don't the media get fooled?'' But in reality, they don't believe what's posted without evidence.

``Spectee Pro'' provided by Spectee (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) is a system that collects a variety of information and visualizes the ``crisis'' occurring at the time. Important sources of information include weather data, road and river surveillance cameras, evacuation information from local governments, communications from railways and airlines, and posts on social media by the general public.

For example, if there is a post on social media that says, ``A motorcycle-truck accident at an intersection. It appears there are some injuries,'' the AI ​​will quickly gather information, determine the location, and send it to users in the form of organized breaking news, such as ``Information about a motorcycle-truck accident in Niigata Prefecture.'' This has become a valuable source of information such as news reports.

If it is not a single accident but a major natural disaster, a lot of information will appear on social media all at the same time. Spectee Pro uses AI to quickly collect and process them. Spectee's COO Satoshi Negoro says, ``When responding to a crisis in the event of a disaster, it is important to first accurately understand what is happening where.By using SNS as an information source, we have dramatically shortened the lead time for disaster response.''

Since its release in 2020, Spectee Pro has been widely used for disaster countermeasures by local governments and information gathering by the media, and the number of contracted accounts has exceeded 1,200. The customer list includes many well-known companies such as NTT Docomo, Shimizu Corporation, Tokyo Gas, and Odakyu Electric Railway, in addition to media companies. It was used in municipalities that have been hit by major earthquakes in the past, such as Ishikawa Prefectural Office and Kobe City, and also in the prefectural office during the recent Kumamoto earthquake.

How to filter out misinformation and lies

However, there are rumors and false information on SNS. How does Spectee Pro tell the difference?