China is ramping up its use of AI in an effort to influence US elections, Microsoft warns

With the US election season well under way, China is increasingly using artificial intelligence as part of a broader effort to meddle in US politics, Microsoft said—while understanding what divides citizens to create conflict.

“To better understand the key issues that divide the American electorate, CCP-affiliated actors are beginning to raise contentious questions about controversial US domestic issues.” Microsoft He warns. According to the report, China also uses social media to portray the United States in an “unfavorable light.”

The report includes screenshots of social media accounts asking for opinions on controversial topics, using AI-generated or manipulated images and methods to reach and engage across various platforms.

“In recent months, there has been an increase in Chinese AI-generated content, attempting to sow and sow division on various topics in the US and elsewhere,” the report said. These strategies include textual content as well as image and video in-depth fakes.

China is also meddling in local politics. Microsoft cited posts about the railroad derailment in Kentucky, the Maui wildfires, and immigration issues along the southern U.S. border. The report says the accounts are “Chinese sockpuppets” encouraging people to comment on mainstream news.

Microsoft warns that China is increasingly using AI-powered propaganda, “although there is little evidence to suggest that these efforts have succeeded.”

“China's increasing experimentation with adding memories, video and audio is likely to continue — and become even more effective down the line,” the report concludes.

Beyond China, Microsoft has paid attention to North Korea's online activities.

“North Korea continues to prioritize stealing cryptocurrency funds, conducting software supply chain attacks and targeting known national security adversaries,” the report said.

AI as a geopolitical tool

The growing role of big data and AI in elections is elevated. Concerns About voter privacy, Election integrityPotential for undue influence through targeting and personalized messaging as political campaigns themselves use data analytics to target small voters based on tailored advertising and detailed voter profiles.

For example, the 2012 Obama campaign was praised for its sophisticated information system Identify and gather supporters. Similarly, the 2016 Trump campaign Data used on 1.6 million volunteers To organize basic efforts.

There have been controversies over the misuse of voter data for AI-powered political research, such as the 2015 breach that enabled Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign. Access Hillary Clinton's campaign information and Cambridge Analytica unauthorized Collection of Facebook user data For targeted political ads.

Regulators are now scrambling to establish rules and oversight for using AI in elections. Several US states have introduced bills to regulate deeply false and deceptive AI content, including disclosure and attribution. Under the pressure of President Biden To deal with this issue. The European Union is also implementing it. Artificial Intelligence ActIt claims to be the world's first comprehensive AI law to include rules around the use of AI in elections. The most popular and polarizing effort, however, is perhaps the legislation to protect Americans from foreign adversary controlled applications.

Senator Marco Rubio said: “The reason TikTok is so successful, the reason it's so attractive, is because it knows you better than you know, and the more you use it, the more it learns.” he said. During the annual Global Threat Assessment hearing. “They happen to control the company that owns the best artificial intelligence algorithms in the world. It's the same one used by Tik Tok in this country, and it uses Americans' data to basically read your mind and predict what you want to see.”

However, some of the most pressing threats come from Distribution Fake and harmful content on social media platforms instead of pure AI content creation. Technology companies have signed an agreement Taking steps to prevent AI misuseBut when it comes to determining who is responsible for capturing and posting false information, the regulation of social networks seems to be less clear compared to the AI ​​space.