AI Hoaxes and Political Destabilization
The prevalence of AI hoaxes has raised questions about their potential to destabilize politics. This blog explores the implications of these hoaxes and their ability to fool people.
Charlie Warzel
Staff Writer, @TheAtlantic. I write Galaxy Brain, the first and only email newsletter. Occasionally: @golfersjournal. charlie@theatlantic.com
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four days ago I wrote about how nobody was fooled by AI Trump arrest things (but a lot of people were worried other people fell for it) and then a day later we got Dope Pope Coat but I think it's interesting and maybe telling that its easier to fool people w/ lower stakes stuff https://t.co/MYVyByVi8C
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) March 27, 2023 -
i'm sure there'll be some pretty twisted ai hoax stuff that feels politically destabilizing but i also wonder if it's going to be harder to pass off these things and the things that will tend to go viral will feel casual and more of something people marvel at than freak out about
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) March 27, 2023 -
maybe a way to think about this is that an older version of text-based fake crap was more naturally aligned toward higher stakes/political/and conspiratorial messaging. Whereas, the visual stuff might be less naturally aligned with coverups/conspiracy
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) March 27, 2023 -
anyhow, i tried to gesture last week at how deepfakes involving MASSIVE news events that haven't happened run counter to the way lots of conspiracy theories work https://t.co/KBUm4Tndf4 pic.twitter.com/W8dvEUcbn8
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) March 27, 2023 -
I decided to write a little about this...and it ended up going to a somewhat unexpected place https://t.co/DPEcezppNa
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) March 28, 2023 -
“The more mundane the thing, the greater the risk” are some decent words to live by when it comes to internet trickery
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) March 28, 2023 -
also almost tested the headline "Pope Coat Dope? Internet Says, ‘I Hope!’ Experts Say, ‘Nope!’" but in the end i didn't have the stones to do it
— Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) March 28, 2023