AI-Powered Social Media Manipulation App Promises to 'Shape Reality' (404media.co) 44
An anonymous reader shares a report: Impact, an app that describes itself as "AI-powered infrastructure for shaping and managing narratives in the modern world," is testing a way to organize and activate supporters on social media in order to promote certain political messages. The app aims to summon groups of supporters who will flood social media with AI-written talking points designed to game social media algorithms.
In video demos and an overview document provided to people interested in using a prototype of the app that have been viewed by 404 Media, Impact shows how it can send push notifications to groups of supporters directing them at a specific social media post and provide them with AI-generated text they can copy and paste in order to flood the replies with counter arguments.
what in the what? (Score:5, Insightful)
Is this what evil looks like?
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Pretty much, yeah. On the other hand, it will be the end of Social Media, so that's nice.
Re: what in the what? (Score:3)
the ones who were gullible enough seem to wake up more and more as we get closer to election date.
Quickly! More drugs!
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Thank you for the product demonstration, AC
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On the other hand, it will be the end of Social Media, so that's nice.
This is unwarranted optimism. The kinds of heavy social media users that this targets tend to be clout-chasing above anything else, without any regard to the personal dignity. They are unlikely to care if the likes are synthetic, just like an addict would not care if the high is from a synthetic opioid.
Re:what in the what? (Score:4, Interesting)
Sometimes you see something and there's no doubt that the person behind it knew they were doing the wrong thing and didn't care.
This is one of those things. The kind of thing that makes me regress into my old conservative opinions that involve beating the people involved until they adjust their opinions or die.
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Re: what in the what? (Score:3)
[citation needed]
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Is this what evil looks like?
I know it sent some chills down my spine. I mean, propaganda is one thing. Using AI to mobilize "activists" that are just supposed to regurgitate whatever the AI spits out is next-level propaganda, and it wouldn't have worked before the 40 years dumbing down of the populace that Reagan started and Bush Junior put a few extra finishing touches on. Granted, they've ramped up the destruction of true education since then, and there are hordes of people just desperately hoping to participate in the online flood
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I would think so, yes.
Re:what in the what? (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, yes it is.
I've said before, with enough technology you could (can) alter the basic perceptual reality of people to the point where they'll be unable to determine the actual truth of current circumstances.
The newest trend in "tailored news" and information means that you may not get the exact same news story, broadcast, or video as the person standing next to you or your neighbor next door- even if you're viewing the same article or broadcast video.
AI can subtly manipulate video, audio, and text to the point where you'll have to compare the information side-by-side to even know if there were any differences.
Today it's a novelty but tomorrow it may be standard fare to not be able to trust that we all received the same information even if it's from the exact same source. How would you know if and your neighbor did, in fact, get the exact same page from the same URL?
It'd be all too easy to subtly alter some of the content to give it a different slant or to evoke a different emotional response. A few words changed here or there can make a huge difference in the way a news story is perceived.
Eventually, you won't be able to trust any media, news, or information unless it was literally printed on paper before ~2010 or so.
It'll get to the point where every bit of info is suspect, and verifying the actuality of anything will be difficult as you'll have to rely on other information and media which could have also been altered, skewed, or tampered with.
This all sounds like "sci-fi pie-in-the-sky" right now, but mark my words, this will happen. Exactly who and what will be doing it is still to be determined (but probably everyone, every government, every advertiser eventually).
Sounds like how it already works (Score:2)
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This is how it's always been. (Score:3)
The man on the pulpit says, and the flock follows like sheep.
The man on the radio says, and the flock nods their head and parrots what he says.
The talking heads on tv say, and the flock nods and parrots what he says
Same with the internet ever since the Endless September
And now it's worse. Every idiot is assured a megaphone with global reach.
Something has to give, before the machines pit us against each other via social media manipulation.
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It may have always been like this, but now everyone has a megaphone. It's a cacophony. Which would actually be ok. The problem comes with the "Internet bubbles". People have no idea how thoroughly they are buried in a mass of people they agree with. They cannot conceive that anyone thinks differently, because the "algorithms" only show them stuff they like, that they click on, and comment on and forward to all their friends in the same bubble.
It takes an active effort to confuse the algorithms. Just as an
AI Barbarians at the DIgital Gates (Score:3)
When people worry about AI.. (Score:2)
...becoming the Terminator, I say that they have watched too much sci-fi. AI is fine when used responsibly.
Ideas like this are the true threat, where people use AI tools to do evil.
We need strong defenses.
we'll hopefully grow through this (Score:3)
The first step would be to recognize that NOTHING YOU SEE OR READ SHAPES REALITY.
Reality is a thing.
It really does, objectively, exist. Definitions apply to it for us to think about them. Without our definitions, without even us, reality persists.
(I shudder that I feel like people are going to dispute that)
One thing, added to another thing, equals two things. This is irrefutable no matter how many semantic games someone wants to play around it.
It doesn't matter on your origin, your viewpoint, your politics, time of day, zodiac sign, gender, or even your sanity: reality IS.
How we perceive it is mutable and does depend on a lot of those things.
But no, despite the ubiquity of the meme, perception is not reality. It is only PERCEPTION.
I can only hope that we as a species survive long enough to evolve stouter, more engaged, more sophisticated perceptual filters to understand that the shadows in advertising, in social media, delivered by strangers and even friends with agendas ALL need to be evaluated against our base understandings of reality and as a first-pass, filtered/weighted thereby.
Re: we'll hopefully grow through this (Score:2)
"The first step would be to recognize that NOTHING YOU SEE OR READ SHAPES REALITY."
Insert quotes from the movie "Sneakers" here.
Yes all I can hope for now (Score:2)
(The demotivated version of critical thinking, that is.)
At least then there will be fewer mind-addled activists following artificial pied pipers.
NYT/WashPo/BBC have some competition. (Score:1)
That's more old school that you think (Score:1)
Those that invented and worked on this thing, or that think it's a good idea, should be condemned to watch The Running Man in loop for at least ten times. And then read the original material back-to-back for a couple of times, for good measure.
Gray goo (Score:2)
This sounds like "gray goo [wikipedia.org]" applied to information...
Re: Automating the manual process of today... (Score:2)
the ongoing Genocide in Palestine
Classic example. I suppose the media you're exposed to omits the decades worth of rocket and terrorist attacks based in, and heavily promote the "woe is Palestine" narrative.
Get them to stop attacking Israel and Israel will put the sword away.
Keep attacking Israel and plunge the world into war.
Re: Automating the manual process of today... (Score:2, Informative)
"Get them to stop attacking Israel and Israel will put the sword away."
Ironically for your point, we know this is not true because of reporting on Israel's continual use of violence against Palestinians. In between the occasional rocket attacks from Palestine, most of which kill no one, Israel is taking hostages, assassinating journalists (more than any other nation on the planet, SA being #2) and founding illegal settlements at gunpoint.
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And neither you nor the parent will be able to come to any sort of agreement which could result in peace because both of you are seeing only one side of the story.
I've known about the Israeli-Arab conflict for my entire adult life, but didn't know that Israel practices the same sort of racial discrimination which would be illegal in the US until South Africa called them out on it a few years ago. The reality of life under Israeli rule simply never made it into the mainstream media because the US media (
Information wants to be... (Score:2)
Information wants to be free.
Information on AI wants to be tied up, gang-raped, then discarded unceremoniously in the nearest roadside ditch.
In a just world, the person having the thought that this should be an available resource for anyone to use in the world outside of a sci-fi dystopian novel should be removed from society. This is not the type of tool a properly functioning society should allow or accept in any way other than as an amusement, which it would be if we had an educated population. This is g
$0.50/hr Timbuktu troll-farm workers (Score:1)
"Sh$t, we're being automated away!"
I am definitely the most desirable (Score:2)
Singularity (Score:1)
the only way to win (Score:2)
Unplug and turn off.
Learn to play guitar instead.
But I guess you can still watch NFL on Sundays... with the sound off.... and a book* to read during the commercials.
*book
A set of written, printed, or blank pages fastened along one side and encased between protective covers.
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The quiet part out loud (Score:2)
It's been happening a lot lately so I suppose I should be used to it. But I'm still kinda gobsmacked that so many companies are boldly declaring "Yeah, we're gonna purposely fuck up society by doing such and such, and oh, by the way, we're going to make a fortune at it and there's jack shit you can do about it".
Once I reached my twenties I never wanted to be older than I was. But now that I'm at an age where wishing to be younger is common and appropriate, I'm starting to have moments where I wish I was clo
Conspire to insight riots! (Score:2)
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This should be illegal (Score:2)