X, known previously as Twitter, is positioning itself to implement artificial intelligence (AI) for the creation of Community Notes on its platform. According to recent reports, the company has solicited developers to present custom AI agents that can authenticate posts and offer neutral explanations about them. This initiative represents a significant transformation in the social media platform’s fact-checking system, which has thus far depended on human users to compose and evaluate Community Notes. The incorporation of AI aims to enhance the scale and speed of the fact-checking process.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Keith Coleman, Vice President of Product at X and the head of the Community Notes initiative, revealed the company’s interest in utilizing AI. Developers have been invited to submit their AI agents for evaluation, with these agents expected to initially undertake writing practice notes that will subsequently be assessed by the company.
Should the AI agents prove effective, they will be employed to draft notes concerning public posts on X, according to the report. Importantly, the review of published notes will remain in the hands of human users, ensuring that a note will only be published if it is deemed helpful by multiple individuals with varying perspectives. Coleman indicated that AI-generated Community Notes might make their debut later this month.
He described the integration of AI agents for note creation, paired with human review, as an “incredibly powerful” combination. Coleman suggested that the involvement of AI could lead to a considerable increase in the volume of Community Notes, which currently number in the hundreds daily.
X launched a fact-checking initiative called Birdwatch in 2021, enlisting selected users to help verify the authenticity of posts. Users would also be able to vote on whether published notes were helpful or unhelpful. This crowdsourced program was rebranded as Community Notes in November 2022, following Elon Musk’s acquisition of X. From the start, the service has solely been managed by voluntary human contributors.
