Russia using artificial intelligence to spread disinformation — expert

Oksana Moroz, an expert in countering disinformation, author of programs on infohygiene, and founder of the How Not to Become a Vegetable volunteer initiative, spoke about this on Espreso.

"Today, technology is developing very rapidly. On the other hand, manipulators are often the first to find ways to exploit these technologies and identify loopholes. This has happened at every major stage. For example, when we began developing social networks, it was the malicious side that first created bots, which were then used to spread disinformation," Moroz explained.

According to the expert, the Russians analyze which texts are better processed by artificial intelligence and prepare corresponding content in various languages to spread disinformation.

"After all, the same is happening now with artificial intelligence. Specifically, the right approaches have already been found for language models. NewsGuard research showed that a single network of Russian sites called 'Pravda' included over 150 websites in different languages. This network distorted, and still distorts, information - over 30% of its output was propaganda material. The Russians understood which texts artificial intelligence learns from and began producing such texts for it. The same is now actively happening with Russian bots. A year ago, when we talked about bots, their effectiveness wasn’t that high, but now AI-powered bots demonstrate significantly greater effectiveness," she added.