Chinese researchers are exploring ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT to manipulate global audiences, possibly including their perceptions of Taiwan, a RAND Corp study found.
The US-based think tank published the report The Rise of Generative AI and the Coming Era of Social Media Manipulation 3.0 on Thursday last week discussing potential threats to US national security posed by actors misusing generative AI technologies, with a focus on China.
Although no evidence has shown that Beijing is using AI to generate and publish content on social media, it is the consensus among independent researchers and a number of governments that the Chinese government is conducting social media manipulation, the report said.
Photo: Reuters
“AI offers the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] the potential to fulfill longstanding desires to shape the global conversation about itself and China more broadly,” the report said.
It cited studies that pointed to Beijing’s attempt to interfere in Taiwan’s 2018 presidential election through social media manipulation.
New tactics emerged afterward, including using content farms to produce numerous false or misleading content, buying established Taiwanese social media accounts and allegedly paying Taiwanese influencers to spread pro-Beijing narratives, it said.
These efforts might not have a significant influence on election results, but seem to be “worsening Taiwanese political and social polarization and widening perceived generational divides,” it said.
Utilizing AI might further improve the authenticity of China-produced content, as well as reduce the money and the labor required to produce it, meaning it could reach further and wider, the report said.
With China’s technology ecosystem and strong government support, at least 30 Chinese companies, universities and research institutions were developing generative AI models as of April, it said.
By growing its technical capability in developing large language models, on which OpenAI’s ChatGPT is based, trained mainly on Chinese-language data, the Chinese government might acquire sufficient capability to conduct social media manipulation on both domestic and foreign scales, the report said.
Beijing’s efforts to shape foreign public opinion can be found on more than social media platforms, they also include print, radio and television, it said, adding that “using generative AI for such content at scale would be a natural progression of CCP efforts.”
Nathan Beauchamp-Mustafaga, one of the authors of the report, told Defense One on Thursday last week that “logically the next target for China would be the Taiwanese [2024 presidential] election” in terms of manipulating public opinion.
The Web site said that social media platforms “aren’t well positioned to guard against” China’s efforts to conduct large-scale manipulation using generative AI.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the US which Beijing has slammed as destabilizing. The Chinese coast guard
RSS