Exclusive: AI-powered disinformation targets Ukraine
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AI tools are helping Russia scale up its disinformation campaign against Ukraine, according new PeakMetrics data shared first with Axios.
Why it matters: Security experts have warned that we're only at the tip of the iceberg in terms of how AI is improving foreign adversaries' disinformation campaigns.
Zoom in: PeakMetrics, an AI-driven analytics company, studied a sample of 5,780 social media posts predominantly on X, Reddit and Instagram published in the last month that all pushed narratives looking to undermine trust in Ukraine's government.
- 28.2% of them showed strong signs of being bots tied to pro-Russian causes, per the company's assessment.
- The posts pushed several major narratives that are common in Russian disinformation campaigns, including the false claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is "illegitimate" and that the Ukrainian government is corrupt and laundering money.
Yes, but: Even though PeakMetrics said there's evidence that the bot operators are using generative AI, the rest of the campaign is pretty similar to campaigns that don't use AI — from the messaging to the lack of engagement on the posts, Molly Dwyer, the company's head of insights, told Axios.
- "It's a lot of laundering the same things," Dwyer said. "What's surprising is that there's not much surprising there."
The intrigue: About 23% of the posts were written in French, a clear attempt to ensure that people in France, a NATO member, also noticed these posts.
- Part of this is because French President Emmanuel Macron has "positioned himself as the last bastion of defense for Ukraine in Europe," Dwyer said. "I don't think it's a coincidence."
Driving the news: The latest Russian-linked bot campaign started in the lead-up to President Donald Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last month.
Reality check: The United States is also reportedly looking at ways to tap the potential of AI for its own overseas information operations, according to a U.S. Special Operations Command document reviewed by The Intercept last month.
Go deeper: Foreign disinformation enters AI-powered era
