#ai-persuasion

#ai-persuasion

For a while last year, scientists offered a glimmer of hope that artificial intelligence would make a positive contribution to democracy. They showed that chatbots could address conspiracy theories racing across social media, challenging misinformation around beliefs in issues such as chemtrails and the flat Earth with a stream of reasonable facts in conversation. But two new studies suggest a disturbing flipside: The latest AI models are getting even better at persuading people at the expense of the truth.

In October 2023, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned that "AI will be capable of superhuman persuasion well before it is superhuman at general intelligence, which may lead to some very strange outcomes." Two years later, we're watching those strange outcomes unfold in real time. And in 2026, they're going to collide with journalism in ways most reporters won't even notice.