"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There was just one problem – the survey turned out to be based on 'fraudulent' data and has been withdrawn."

#UK #religion #ReligiousRevival #YouGov #AI #BibleSociety
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"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."

~ Sinéad Campbell

#UK #religion #ReligiousRevival #YouGov #AI #BibleSociety
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theguardian.com/technology/202…

‘Our assumptions are broken’: how fraudulent church data revealed AI’s threat to polling

Experts say paid participants are using automated tools to generate unreliable survey responses at scale

^{Sinéad Campbell (The Guardian)}