Propagandists keep trying to use ChatGPT, OpenAI report says
The report said groups seeking to influence elections were trying to automate tasks with the AI tool but had struggled to make meaningful breakthroughs.
Propagandists seeking to influence elections around the globe have tried to use ChatGPT in their operations, according to a report released Wednesday by the technology’s creator, OpenAI.
While ChatGPT is generally seen as one of the leading AI chatbots on the market it also heavily moderates how people use its product. OpenAI is the only major tech company to repeatedly release public reports about how bad actors have tried to misuse its Large Language Model, or LLM, product, giving some insight into how propagandists and criminal or state-backed hackers have tried to use the technology and may use it with other AI models.
OpenAI said in its report that this year it has stopped people who tried to use ChatGPT to generate content about elections in the U.S., Rwanda, India, and the European Union. It’s not clear whether any were widely seen.
In one instance, the company described an Iranian propaganda operation of fake English-language news websites that purported to reflect different American political stances, though it’s not clear that those sites have ever gotten substantial engagement from real people. They also used ChatGPT to create social media posts in support of those sites, according to the report.
In a media call last month, U.S. intelligence officials said that propagandists working for Iran, as well as Russia and China, have all incorporated AI into their ongoing propaganda operations aimed at U.S. voters but that none appear to have found major success.
Rating: 5