Why people believe Covid conspiracy theories: could folklore hold the answer?

Researchers use AI – and witchcraft folklore – to map the coronavirus conspiracy theories that have sprung up

Researchers have mapped the web of connections underpinning coronavirus conspiracy theories, opening a new way of understanding and challenging them.

Using Danish witchcraft folklore as a model, the researchers from UCLA and Berkeley analysed thousands of social media posts with an artificial intelligence tool and extracted the key people, things and relationships.

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