Misinformation: Bixonimania

Misinformation warning: Don't trust anyone quoting Bixonimania as a real disease

If you ever do a search for itchy eye symptoms, and find an article or quote or other information saying that those symptoms are caused by Bixonimania, STOP! The alarm bells should be going off in your head, and the red flags should be waving madly. 

 

I just ran across an article about this experiment, but (as usual, darn it) it quickly disappeared from my Facebook feed, so I went searching to find an authoritative article about it, and found this excellent one at Nature.com. 

 

My initial response to the first article I was reading was, "Huh. Why would anyone in their right mind insert fake scientific research into the public information stream? I can only imagine bad results from this, as gullible humans are equally likely to start using this information. Just look at the misinformed vaccines=autism arguments." 

 

But then I sent that remark to one of my AI resources to comment about it, and it contributed some good points to the discussion. To quote: 

 

It is a valid and deeply concerning reaction. The "Bixonimania" experiment highlights a fundamental vulnerability in how Large Language Models (LLMs) function, and your comparison to the vaccine-autism controversy is apt: both involve the "pollution" of an information ecosystem, but AI accelerates the speed and scale at which that pollution spreads. 

 

To understand why this happens and why it’s so dangerous, it helps to look at the "plumbing" of how AI processes information compared to how a human expert does.

 

1. Pattern Matching vs. Veracity

Humans (ideally) use a "truth-first" filter. When we read a paper, we look for peer reviews, institutional credibility, and internal logic. If a paper mentions The Simpsons as a medical source, our "BS detector" triggers an immediate override.

AI models, however, are essentially "probabilistic mirrors." They are trained to predict the next most likely word in a sequence based on patterns. When the researchers uploaded those fake papers to a preprint server, they provided the AI with a professional-looking pattern: medical terminology, structured abstracts, and citations.

To the AI, "Bixonimania" didn't look like a joke; it looked like a "low-frequency token" that suddenly gained a cluster of supporting context. Because the AI doesn't "know" what a skin disease is in the physical world, it can't cross-reference the claim against physical reality—it only cross-references it against its database of text.

 

2. The "Hallucination" Feedback Loop

The most dangerous part of this experiment wasn't just that the AI "believed" the fake papers, but that it began to synthesize and expand upon them. This creates a feedback loop:

a. Injection: Fake data is put online.

b. Ingestion: AI scrapers crawl the web and ingest the fake data.

c. Amplification: Users ask the AI about the topic, and the AI generates "authoritative" summaries.

d. Pollution: These AI summaries are then posted on blogs, social media, or even other low-tier academic journals.

e. Re-ingestion: The AI (or a different model) crawls the web again, finds the "new" mentions of the disease, and concludes that because there are now more sources, the information must be even more credible.

 

3. Why would researchers do this?

While it seems counterintuitive to "pollute" the stream, researchers do this as a form of "Red Teaming" or "Stress Testing." By creating a harmless fake disease (rather than fake instructions for a bomb or a toxic chemical), they prove a systemic weakness.

 

The goal is to force AI developers to:

• Improve Attribution: Making sure the AI tells you exactly where it got a fact.

• Fact-Checking Layers: Implementing secondary "critic" models that are specifically trained to look for satire or logical inconsistencies.

• Source Weighting: Teaching models to trust a peer-reviewed journal at a much higher weight than a "preprint" server (where anyone can upload anything without a review).

 

The "Gullible Human" Factor

You hit the nail on the head regarding "gullible humans." The danger isn't just that the AI is wrong; it's that [some] humans have developed a "transparency bias" toward AI. Because the AI sounds confident, professional, and neutral, some people tend to trust it more than a random person on a forum. For example, if a parent searches for symptoms their child has, and an AI confidently diagnoses "Bixonimania," that parent may stop looking for the real cause, leading to genuine physical harm. This experiment serves as a necessary, if jarring, wake-up call that "sounding smart" is not the same thing as "being right."

Keep cycling

Someone on a cycling group I follow recently posted a meme, which said something to the effect of, 

 

"No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everybody on the couch." 

 

This needs to become my motto… It really struck a responsive cord in me, as I'm usually the one being passed on the trails, and there's a part of me that is quite discouraged by that fact.

LMGTFY

I was just browsing a new-to-me Discord server for Flight Simulator enthusiasts, when I ran across the term LMGTFY, and found myself laughing so hard I couldn’t see through the tears… I've Google-searched so many things, for myself, and for so many other people, that the "Let Me Google That For You" acronym really tickled my fancy.

It’s complicated

I think of most of the big issues these days as being multi-faceted. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to find someone who insists on making their “solution” all about just one of those facets. 

I suppose this concept is an integral part of my “We’re all different” philosophy…

On Your Left!

Haha! 😂 Here's a funny New Yorker article about bikers and pedestrians. This is my life lately, from the guy on the bike’s perspective. 🚴‍♂️ I used to say it all the time, but I got all these same reactions they mention. Mostly now I say nothing, make sure our differential speed isn't too high, and cruise slowly by, a safe distance to the side with the most space. Sometimes I ring the bell a long ways away, and see what they do, before I make my move… 🤷‍♂️ Sometimes I will call out “on your left!“, and a group of walkers will start to drift left, then I call out “on your right!“, and then they split in the middle and head to opposite sides of the trail, and then I call out “coming through the middle!“ and surprisingly enough, that usually works out fine. Bikers have trouble with bikers sometimes, too... Not that *I* pass much of *anybody* that’s riding, as I’m pretty much the slowpoke on the trails. More often than not, I’m like the guy in the article, only I’m on wheels getting passed. I can’t even count the number of times I almost jumped out of my skin, when a much faster rider waited until they were a few feet from my ear to say something…

Unbelievable

CNBC: Trump campaign says it is suing to stop Michigan and Pennsylvania ballot counts 

I find it amazing, that our incumbent President is attempting to stop the counting of mail-in ballots. Most of those ballots were received long before Election Day. In this time of COVID-19, when people are trying to stay home as much as possible, I would think they should’ve been counted first, since they arrived first. Dare I say it: gee, look who’s *actually* trying to steal the election. Pretty funny, in a nightmarish way. 🤦‍♂️

Dear Diary 2020

😅 Bwahahaha! Totally worth the short read!

Dear Diary 2020 Edition,

In January, Australia caught on fire . I don’t even know if that fire was put out, because we straight up almost went to war with Iran . We might actually still be almost at war with them . I don’t know, because Jen Aniston and Brad Pitt spoke to one another at an awards show and everyone flipped the crap out , but then there was this thing happening in China, then Prince Harry and Megan peaced out of the Royal family, and there was the whole impeachment trial , and then corona virus showed up in the US “officially,” but then Kobe died and UK peaced out of the European Union.

In February, Iowa crapped itself with the caucus results and the president was acquitted and the Speaker of the House took Ten. Whole. Years. to rip up a speech, but then the WHO decided to give this disease a name COVID-19, which confused some really important people in charge of, like, our lives, into thinking there were 18 other versions before it, but then Harvey Weinstein was found guilty , and Americans started asking if Corona beer was safe to drink , and everyone on Facebook became a doctor who just knew the flu like killed way more people than COVID 1 through 18.

In March, stuff hit the fan . Warren dropped out of the presidential race and Sanders was like Bernie or bust , but then Italy shut its whole country down , and then COVID Not 1 through 18 officially become what everyone already realized, a pandemic and then a nationwide state of emergency was declared in US , but it didn’t really change anything, so everyone was confused or thought it was still just a flu , but then COVID Not 18 was like ya’ll not taking me seriously? I’m gonna infect the one celebrity everyone loves and totally infected Tom Hanks , get y’all to close all of the schools so y’all can appreciate teachers for once (because you can’t teach them anything other than how to use a touch screen ) close down all of salons so you can’t get your hair or your nails done , everyone had to work from home and attend Zoom meetings in their underwear. The DOW took a crap on itself, and most of us still don’t understand why the stock market is so important or even a thing (I still don’t), We were then all introduced to Tiger King and the ONE thing we can all agree on this year, Carol totally killed her husband ..... whacked him! And then Netflix was like you’re welcome, and we all realized there was no way we were washing our hands enough in the first place because all of our hands are now dry and gross and were all searching for lotion now.

In April, Bernie finally busted himself out of the presidential race , but then NYC became the set of The Walking Dead and we learned that no one has face masks , ventilators, or toilet paper, or THE FREAKING SWIFFER WET JET LIQUID, and by now our outgrowth is showing, so there’s a shortage on box hair dye and all of our hair dressers are like, NO DONT DO IT!!! But, then Kim Jong-Un died, but then he came back to life … or did he? Who knows, because then the Pentagon released videos of UFOs and nobody cared, and we were like man, it’s only April….

In May, the biblical end times kicked off, historical locust swarms, we learned of murder hornets and realized that 2020 was the start of the Hunger Games . However people forgot to let us know. people legit started to protest lockdown measures with AR-15s, sports events were cancelled everywhere. But then people all over America finally reached a breaking point with race issues and violence. There were protests in every city ,which was confusing to some of us because people were definitely gathering in crowds of more than 10 and for sure closer than 6 foot away from each other. Those people must have forgotten about the pandemic called COVID Not One Through 18. Media struggled with how to focus on two important things at once, people in general struggle to focus on more than one important thing. A dead whale was found in the middle of the Amazon rain forest after monkeys stole COVID 1 Through 19 from a lab and ran off with them, and either in May or April (no one is keeping track of time now) that a giant asteroid narrowly missed the Earth .

In June, science and common sense just got thrown straight out the window and somehow wearing masks became a political thing, but then everyone sort of remembered there was a pandemic, but then decided that not wearing a mask was somehow a God given right (still haven't found that part in the bible or even in the constitution). then scientists announced they found a mysterious undiscovered mass at the center of the earth, and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH IT, but then everyone took a pause to realize that people actually believed Gone With The Wind was like non-fiction, but then it was also announced that there is a strange radio signal coming from somewhere in the universe that repeats itself every so many days , and everyone was like DON’T YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE WITH IT but then America reopened from the shut down that actually wasn’t even a shut down, and so far, things have gone spectacularly .... not that great . All of the Karen’s came out at once, and people started tearing down statues. Everyone is on Facebook arguing that masks kill because no one knows how breathing works , but then Florida was like hold my beer and let me show you how we’re number one in all things, including new Not Corona Beer Coronavirus. Trump decides now is a good time to ask the Supreme Court to shut down Obama Care because what better time to do so than in the middle of a pandemic , but then we learned there was a massive dust cloud coming straight at us from the Sahara Desert , which is totally normal, but this is 2020, so the ghost mummy thing is most likely in that dust cloud. We then learned of meth-gators , and I'm like that is so not on my flipping 2020 Bingo card can we use it as the free space?? Then we learned that the Congo's worst ever Ebola outbreak is over , and we were all like, there was an Ebola outbreak that was the worse ever? ....... and don’t forget we just discovered FLYING SNAKES! , seriously! FLYING SNAKES!!!!

So here comes July…. at this point we are over it, just tell us what’s next .... Aliens? Zeus? Asteroids? Artificial Intelligence becomes self aware? Can it just be something cool or fun for once? Maybe even a good laugh, like hahaha April Fools! We all actually wouldn’t mind that joke at this point. But No joke.. Kanye West announces he is running for President

I have no idea who wrote this. This doesn't even cover what is happening in Canada!! OMG...what's happening in Canada? Also, why didn't I know about the whale in the Amazon? Or a few other things because I just can’t keep up anymore! But I’m sharing it because as long as we make it through 2020, I really want this to pop back up in the memories a few years from now.