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. (read on)