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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/28/how-fraudulent-church-data-revealed-ais-threat-to-polling>
"If you had been keeping tabs on the news about church attendance in Britain
lately, you would be forgiven for thinking the country was in the midst of a
Christian revival.
Stories of swelling congregations, filled with young people returning to the
flock, spurred on by everything from social media to a rise in bible sales
appeared to be confirmed by a 2024 report from the Bible Society.
Based on data collected by a YouGov survey, it claimed church attendance was
increasing in England and Wales. The findings drove headlines, and the
narrative was established.
There was just one problem – the survey turned out to be based on “fraudulent”
data and has been withdrawn. And academics and experts are warning that this
episode should serve as a parable, not about a renaissance in religion, but of
the false prophets of artificial intelligence.
Researchers have said online opt-in surveys are becoming increasingly infested
with bogus data as respondents who are often paid for their participation use
AI to fill in questionnaires at speed.
These particular surveys are self-selecting research forms that can shape
national discourse. But a major fault, experts say, is that they are
susceptible to “survey farmers”, and this vulnerability means the results
should be treated with caution when trying to understand social trends."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
