The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine
If this article doesn't make you think twice about your use of the Internet, your future contributions to the well-being of our fading democratic republic are likely to be in the hands of those who seek to manipulate your opinion through the use of very accurately targeted information. The authors argue persuasively that the winning presidential candidate's team extensively and successfully used a new AI technology to win those 'border' states that had been predicted to go blue.
"There’s a new automated propaganda machine driving global politics. (This is) How it works and what it will mean for the future of democracy."
Re: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine
I'm sorry but I don't buy it.
I can't find anything real and substantive put out by the site behind the link. The broad tech world which is overwhelmingly anti-trump hasn't even hinted at such a thing...indeed- to the contrary showing howout of touch his campaign was.
Trump never expected to win- and had no real campaign in the normal sense.
This just reeks of seeking a cospiracy theory to try and explain Trumps victory, when the answer, while complicated, s much simpler...
Re: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine
That was the second article I'd seen in the past week on the same subject. It isn't about the broad tech world, and it's not only or even primarily about the US presidential election. It's about the way a developing technology can be used to influence populations. I don't see anything in your comment which substantively addresses the facts as presented.
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Posted in reply to the post by SonomaPatientsCoop:
I'm sorry but I don't buy it. ...
Re: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine
Perhaps we don't agree on what would qualify as "real and substantive". Seems to me the author(s) packed a lot of detail into their account of Analytica's recent efforts at managing bots to obtain personality profiles which can then be used to affect political opinions. I don't want to believe that people are this manipulative, but the evidence from the world of marketing is all around us. Why would this political use of common marketing profiling not b used for political gain?
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Posted in reply to the post by SonomaPatientsCoop:
I'm sorry but I don't buy it. ...
Re: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine
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Posted in reply to the post by volksman:
Perhaps we don't agree on what would qualify as "real and substantive". Seems to me the author(s) packed a lot of detail into their account of Analytica's recent efforts at managing bots to obtain personality profiles which can then be used to affect political opinions. I don't want to believe that people are this manipulative, but the evidence from the world of marketing is all around us. Why would this political use of common marketing profiling not b used for political gain?
I don't see anything to support trump using this. I don't see anything to support Hilleary nor Bernie using this. I see no evidence coming out of the tech world to suggest anyone is using AI at this point.
That said- I'd say the overwhelming evidence is that the Democrats, and namely Hillary, (and Obama before) most heavily made use of the vast amounts of data available on our populace. From all I see coming out of the tech world- the "D's" have put a lot of time, money, and effort into harnessing and (ab)using this info. The R's...rank amatuers still relying on membership lists of the NRA, Heritage, etc.
(caveat: we have little if any real info on what some of the PACs have been doing....but still the evidence out there is the D side has been mech better at (ab)using info then the r's. )
Re: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine
I also see no 'evidence' for the use of AI as stated, but I would not be surprised if, to elect Trump that some sort of 'computerized' system were used to determine what 'issues' enough voters would be most persuaded by IN KEY DISTRICTS , whereas would be most likely to vote for Trump. Yes, even in particular, during the republican primaries... ...In fact I think that is most likely to have occurred... ...Not AI though.
...But, AI was then and still is most unlikely (now) to be used; is even more unlikely to even have been needed even IF it is 'trustworthy' which is in itself is very questionable because that interjects too much risk of failure, frivolous endeavor, and / or, if for no other reason would have been an unnecessary expense.
In order to to cinch the electoral college (at least by 2016) and district results (prior to 2016) for giving the republicans the advantage, political lines were drawn...
...By 2012, for congressional elections it was already a 'done deal' due to a well planned and executed system of (rigged) Gerrymandering.
By 2016, the bias towards favoring Right-Wing 'agenda' in the for-profit media and also the Supreme Courts decision in the Citizens United case along with the Gerrymandering all but assured republican majorities where it counts for congressional majority in house, senate, and many governorship's, most of which was done before the 2012 and 2014 election cycles.
Just no 'need' for an unproven (or 'proven' for that matter) AI system... ...I am not anywhere near considering being swayed towards being 'convinced' of the 'AI theory' being used in 2016 election cycle....
...2020? Maybe, but I seriously doubt it.
https://politicalmaps.org/gerrymandering/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...north-carolina
https://www.salon.com/2016/04/01/no_...ry_as_fantasy/
Re: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine
David, you're just a troll.
And it becomes evident with a search of all of your posts and threads.
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by SonomaPatientsCoop:
I'm sorry but I don't buy it.
I can't find anything real and substantive put out by the site behind the link. The broad tech world which is overwhelmingly anti-trump hasn't even hinted at such a thing...indeed- to the contrary showing howout of touch his campaign was.
Trump never expected to win- and had no real campaign in the normal sense.
This just reeks of seeking a cospiracy theory to try and explain Trumps victory, when the answer, while complicated, s much simpler...
Re: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine
My interpretation from Karl's thread starting post is not so much about (if at all) Trump's tragic election to the position of POTUS.
From my understanding of what Karl was trying to say is the fact that social media has become a powerful, new actor in mainstream culture and, therefore, politics, economics, and sociology in general. Our nation, the U.S. (and all other countries around the world) has been 'sucker punched' by the unforeseen leviathan of social media and now anything is possible--both bad and good. And because the social media kraken is not fully known then the consequences, positive and negative, are now powerful agents that we are still largely ignorant of.
That is how I read and understood Karl's original post. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
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Posted in reply to the post by Hotspring 44:
I also see no 'evidence' for the use of AI as stated, but I would not be surprised if, to elect Trump that some sort of 'computerized' system were used to determine what 'issues' enough voters would be most persuaded by IN KEY DISTRICTS , whereas would be most likely to vote for Trump. Yes, even in particular, during the republican primaries... ...In fact I think that is most likely to have occurred... ...Not AI though....
Re: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine
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Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Edward Mendoza:
...From my understanding of what Karl was trying to say is the fact that social media has become a powerful, new actor in mainstream culture and, therefore, politics, economics, and sociology in general. Our nation, the U.S. (and all other countries around the world) has been 'sucker punched' by the unforeseen leviathan of social media and now anything is possible--both bad and good. And because the social media kraken is not fully known then the consequences, positive and negative, are now powerful agents that we are still largely ignorant of.
That is how I read and understood Karl's original post. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Edward, I think you have the gist of it.
That being said, the title of this thread (The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine) is misleading in a literal sense, IMHO; because:
In the article that the original post linked to made mention of “AI”, specifically:
“Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine being used to manipulate our opinions and behavior to advance specific political agendas”.
Definition of “AI” (in part) as described in Wikipedia as is what I believe is the most accurate and commonly understood description of what is (usually) meant by someone who is using the 'term' “AI” goes (in part) as follows:
“Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence exhibited by machines. In computer science, the field of AI research defines itself as the study of "intelligent agents": any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of success at some goal.[1] Colloquially, the term "artificial intelligence" is applied when a machine mimics "cognitive" functions that humans associate with other human minds, such as "learning" and "problem solving" (known as Machine Learning).[2] As machines become increasingly capable, mental facilities once thought to require intelligence are removed from the definition. For example, optical character recognition is no longer perceived as an exemplar of "artificial intelligence", having become a routine technology.[3] Capabilities currently classified as AI include successfully understanding human speech,[4] competing at a high level in strategic game systems (such as Chess and Go[5]), self-driving cars, intelligent routing in content delivery networks, and interpreting complex data.”.
Therefore the 'usage' of the term “AI” in the article, in my opinion, is literally incorrect.
The 'machine/s', 'computer/s' etc. that were undoubtedly used as tool/s to formulate the strategies for world wide manipulation of humans that the article mentioned don't and, so far never did have an actual 'complete' “AI” set of components.
As I have already stated: no need to use “AI”; nor have the authors of that article (within that article) have anything other than their own mention of “AI” which, in my opinion the mention of “AI”, in the context it was written in that article, without any proof of it's literal existence; specifically as a “self aware 'AI' machine” (in the context of world wide manipulation of people) is a wee bit hyperbolic of a statement without any documentation other than the use of computers, which, by the way is common.
The computers that I think were used were not, and are not yet capable of being “AI” in the above aforementioned 'context'; even if 'super-computer was utilized, it is unlikely to the extreme that it is or was an “AI” 'machine' in the so-called 'self aware' sense within the context of this topic.
I could go on but I think between my last post and this post I have said enough to make my point/s clear.
Re: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Edward Mendoza:
David, you're just a troll.
And it becomes evident with a search of all of your posts and threads.
???
I'm on his side - maybe we're both under the bridge and green... but there apparently are others on this thread who are a bit weary of the oversell.
Of course 'they' do this stuff, the question is how effective it is. People who know nothing about what AI really is are behind most articles about this - and there's nothing unusual about that. It's not an unethical thing to do. Someone has to look at the implications, and tie disparate ideas together. But it's extrapolation and speculation. All the hoopla about self-driving cars makes it sound like they're virtually here, but many engineers close to the field are more guarded and won't be surprised if it takes years or decades. Medical breakthroughs that show up in the press, or even more typical, dietary guidelines, often aren't accepted as proven by nutrition scientists. Qualified results don't make good press. It confuses people and often bores them.
AI is the same. "Big Data" is one of the key technologies in AI and it's just recently becoming clear how big the problem of false correlations and inferences is. It'll find an answer in that data somewhere, whether it's real or not. Goebbels-style propaganda is going to be far more effective than AI for quite a while. It's great for targeting ads, right? Usually the ads your browser pokes at you are so compelling you can't resist clicking. Or, maybe, they're semi-invisible to you. AI tech for manipulating the public is comparable. People can't wait to get it working (bad people too) and they keep hoping and getting better, but it's harder than it looks.
Re: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine
Setting aside whether "AI" was used appropriately in the last article's headline, further investigative reporting continues to illustrate how computer technology is being used to more effectively propagandize online sites Twitter and FaceBook. The article I'm referencing today on this thread comes from theguardian.com
Robert Mercer: the big data billionaire waging war on mainstream media
The article describes the capabilities of SCL Group and its spin-off, Cambridge Analytica, and the relationships between those firms and billionaire Robert Mercer, who provided funding and apparently other resources to the Republican presidential campaign. A few quotes from the article:
“The danger of not having regulation around the sort of data you can get from Facebook and elsewhere is clear. With this, a computer can actually do psychology, it can predict and potentially control human behaviour. It’s what the scientologists try to do but much more powerful. It’s how you brainwash someone. It’s incredibly dangerous.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that minds can be changed. Behaviour can be predicted and controlled. I find it incredibly scary. I really do. Because nobody has really followed through on the possible consequences of all this. People don’t know it’s happening to them. Their attitudes are being changed behind their backs.”
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Emma Briant, a propaganda specialist at the University of Sheffield, wrote about SCL Group in her 2015 book, Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change. Cambridge Analytica has the technological tools to effect behavioural and psychological change, she said, but it’s SCL that strategises it. It has specialised, at the highest level – for Nato, the MoD, the US state department and others – in changing the behaviour of large groups. It models mass populations and then it changes their beliefs.
SCL was founded by someone called Nigel Oakes, who worked for Saatchi & Saatchi on Margaret Thatcher’s image, says Briant, and the company had been “making money out of the propaganda side of the war on terrorism over a long period of time. There are different arms of SCL but it’s all about reach and the ability to shape the discourse. They are trying to amplify particular political narratives. And they are selective in who they go for: they are not doing this for the left.”
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"Could you reverse engineer the national, or even the global, mood? Model it, and then change it?" “It does seem possible. And it does worry me. There are quite a few pieces of research that show if you repeat something often enough, people start involuntarily to believe it. And that could be leveraged, or weaponised for propaganda. We know there are thousands of automated bots out there that are trying to do just that.”
The war of the bots is one of the wilder and weirder aspects of the elections of 2016. At the Oxford Internet Institute’s Unit for Computational Propaganda, its director, Phil Howard, and director of research, Sam Woolley, show me all the ways public opinion can be massaged and manipulated. But is there a smoking gun, I ask them, evidence of who is doing this? “There’s not a smoking gun,” says Howard. “There are smoking machine guns. There are multiple pieces of evidence.”
“Look at this,” he says and shows me how, before the US election, hundreds upon hundreds of websites were set up to blast out just a few links, articles that were all pro-Trump. “This is being done by people who understand information structure, who are bulk buying domain names and then using automation to blast out a certain message. To make Trump look like he’s a consensus.”
And that requires money?
“That requires organisation and money. And if you use enough of them, of bots and people, and cleverly link them together, you are what’s legitimate. You are creating truth.”
You can take an existing trending topic, such as fake news, and then weaponise it. You can turn it against the very media that uncovered it. Viewed in a certain light, fake news is a suicide bomb at the heart of our information system. Strapped to the live body of us – the mainstream media.
One of the things that concerns Howard most is the hundreds of thousands of “sleeper” bots they’ve found. Twitter accounts that have tweeted only once or twice and are now sitting quietly waiting for a trigger: some sort of crisis where they will rise up and come together to drown out all other sources of information.
Like zombies?
“Like zombies.”
Many of the techniques were refined in Russia, he says, and then exported everywhere else. “You have these incredible propaganda tools developed in an authoritarian regime moving into a free market economy with a complete regulatory vacuum. What you get is a firestorm.”
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Read the whole article here
Re: The Rise of the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine
That is more like what I was saying; that AI, 1- Is not (yet so far as we know) in existence, 2- was not 'then' and is not now being used, 3- an actual 'AI' could, and by definition, would 'think' on it's own and make it's own 'independent' decisions; hence the 'unacceptable risk', and one main reason that I personally am sure that 'AI' was not used.
That being said, yes I have the same concerns of mass manipulation of human population etc. and am very concerned about the direction that America is presently going in.:jawdrop::pullshair::stoptheinsane:
Quote:
Posted in reply to the post by Karl Frederick:
Setting aside whether "AI" was used appropriately in the last article's headline, further investigative reporting continues to illustrate how computer technology is being used to more effectively propagandize online sites Twitter and FaceBook. The article I'm referencing today on this thread comes from theguardian.com
Robert Mercer: the big data billionaire waging war on mainstream media
here
