A number of AI tools are actively being used to generate and spread controversial content by Chinese-backed groups to sow division in the US and abroad, Microsoft said.
In a new reportThe company claims that the artificial inflation and the spread of divisive issues are intended to divide American society and encourage criticism of the Biden administration, especially ahead of the election season.
Much of the content spread by the Beijing-backed groups revolves around US government collusion in natural and man-made disasters, citing secret weapons tests and ulterior motives as the cause.
Society is split in the run-up to the elections
Artificial weather manipulation has been a popular topic for conspiracy theorists. The Chinese-backed group known as Storm-1376 has added fuel to the fire with several reports claiming that the August 2023 Hawaii wildfires were actually caused by the testing of a secret military “meteorological weapon.” The posts featured AI-generated images of beachfront properties and roads engulfed by massive fires and were translated into 31 languages to expand the posts’ audience and further fan the flames.
A second series of reports focused on Japan’s decision to discharge nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, which was deemed safe by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Some reports accused the US government of encouraging the decision to poison other countries’ water supplies.
Storm-1376 may be trying to influence the upcoming US presidential election, using lessons learned from its attempts to interfere in Taiwan’s elections earlier this year. The group began artificially amplifying various fake posts and memes in December 2023, before moving to generating and posting their own content, including a deepfake audio of candidate Terry Gou endorsing another candidate on Election Day.
There have also been a number of reports claiming US government involvement in the Thanksgiving train derailment in Kentucky, suggesting the government was “deliberately hiding something” in the molten sulfur spill near the town of Livingston.