Russia Ran a Latin American Think Tank Through an AI Persona Named Mia Clark. The Researchers Did Honest Work and Never Knew Who Signed Their Paychecks. Iran Got a Hundred Articles Past Real Editors Under Seven Bylines That Don't Exist
About This Episode
OpenAI said on October 8 it banned two influence operations that used ChatGPT to run 'false fronts'. A Russian operation controlled a Latin American think tank through a fake persona, with staff who did real research unaware of their employer, and spoofed a Peruvian education office to get schools to stage pro-Bandera Ukraine events that fed into Polish politics. An Iranian for-hire operation pitched almost 100 articles under seven fake journalist bylines to roughly a dozen outlets. OpenAI rates the Russian one Category 5 of 6, its first ever, and says the operators used AI mostly to write reports to their boss, which helped get them caught.
Our Take
AI didn't write most of this propaganda; it ran the office, which let a fake boss manage real researchers and fake journalists launder content through real outlets, so the question is how anyone can see who is behind a byline or a paycheck.
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