OpenAI recently banned Russian and Iranian accounts using its AI tools to conduct influence operations globally. These operations involved spreading false narratives, with some even reaching news outlets and prompting reactions from European Parliament members. Reports generated through ChatGPT revealed that targeting established media was more effective than merely using fake social media accounts.
The Russian campaigns aimed to sway opinions in Latin America against supporting Ukraine and to influence local politics. Operatives used ChatGPT to draft reports for their superiors. A significant campaign impersonated a regional educational authority in Peru, tricking schools into discussing Stepan Bandera, a controversial Ukrainian figure. This led to a far-right Polish MEP suggesting entry bans for Bandera supporters. The operation stirred historical tensions between Ukrainians and Poles.
Russians are constantly engaging in these sorts of active measures,
said Darren Linvill from Clemson University, who studies online influence operations. He noted the use of fake stories and personas to align with Russian political goals. ChatGPT-generated memos also indicated a fake think tank operation in Latin America, similar to past endeavors by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Internet Research Agency.
Iranian operatives utilized AI to publish content in Persian and English, focusing on U.S.-Iran relations and American politics. OpenAI described this as a commercial-like influence campaign. Iranian accounts created seven fake authors, publishing nearly 100 articles in small media outlets. Among these was the progressive Daily Kos and the U.K.-based Middle East Monitor, both affected by fake articles.
The Middle East Monitor removed fake author pages, while Daily Kos highlighted that community posts are user-generated and not reviewed by staff.
AI was valuable to them beyond just being a shortcut,
Linvill noted, emphasizing the authentic-seeming language in published articles that would have been challenging for Iranian operations to achieve years ago.