by Ashis Sinha
Microsoft has alerted that China could potentially use AI-generated content to disrupt upcoming elections in India. It may also disrupt poll in USA and South Korea, warned the technology company.
The technology giant warned that China might exploit fabricated social media profiles to influence Americans on divisive issues, potentially impacting the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.
Microsoft’s analysis indicates that China is increasingly deploying AI-generated content to advance its global objectives. The company also highlighted an increase in supply chain attacks and cryptocurrency thefts by North Korea, aimed at financing its military activities and gathering intelligence.
“With major elections scheduled this year, particularly in India, South Korea, and the United States, we anticipate that China will, at a minimum, produce and amplify AI-generated content to serve its interests,” Microsoft cautioned.
Although the current impact of AI-generated content on election results is considered low, Microsoft expects China’s experimentation with memes, videos, and audio augmentation to continue and potentially become more effective in the future. The company also predicts that North Korea will persist in targeting bitcoin thefts to fund its nuclear, space, and missile programs, in addition to launching supply chain attacks on the defense industry.
Microsoft pointed out that during Taiwan’s presidential election in January 2024, China tried to conduct a disinformation campaign using AI for the first time.
According to the reports, Storm-1376, also known as Dragonbridge and Spamouflage, was identified as the main group behind these activities. The group released AI-generated fake audio on election day, falsely depicting Foxconn owner and presidential candidate Terry Gou endorsing another candidate, despite Gou having withdrawn from the campaign in November 2023. YouTube promptly removed this content.
Reports also indicated that Storm-1376 disseminated AI-generated memes featuring William Lai, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate at the time, and other Taiwanese and Chinese dissidents worldwide. The group has been using AI-generated TV news anchors since at least February 2023 to spread disinformation.
