Russia is using artificial intelligence in its propaganda
The Justice Department says this was part of a project run by a Russian intelligence officer and funded by the Kremlin; it used AI software to create fake profiles on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and promote pro-Kremlin narratives.
For example, there was one user who claimed to live in Minneapolis. He posted videos of Russian President Vladimir Putin justifying Russia's actions in Ukraine. And these are the kinds of messages Russia has been pushing online for years now, mainly to undermine support for Ukraine.
But, so far, it doesn't seem that using AI is helping these campaigns reach more people. So X took down almost a thousand accounts involved in this bot farm, but we don't know how many people followed them. The screenshots that the government shared showed very small numbers. X didn't respond to further inquiries. But overall, that tracks with what we've heard from other recent reports on influence operations using AI.
It's apparent that social media sites that are making millions off of advertising shouldn't be held harmless for allowing "fake news" to be supported by their technology.
Just sayin'.
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Original source: https://www.npr.org/2024/06/25/nx-s1-5019381/how-russia-is-using-artificial-intelligence-in-its-propaganda-operations
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