Sleeper Social Bots: a new generation of AI disinformation bots are already a political threat
<|reference_start|>Sleeper Social Bots: a new generation of AI disinformation bots are already a political threat: This paper presents a study on the growing threat of "sleeper social bots," AI-driven social bots in the political landscape, created to spread disinformation and manipulate public opinion. We based the name sleeper social bots on their ability to pass as humans on social platforms, where they're embedded like political "sleeper" agents, making them harder to detect and more disruptive. To illustrate the threat these bots pose, our research team at the University of Southern California constructed a demonstration using a private Mastodon server, where ChatGPT-driven bots, programmed with distinct personalities and political viewpoints, engaged in discussions with human participants about a fictional electoral proposition. Our preliminary findings suggest these bots can convincingly pass as human users, actively participate in conversations, and effectively disseminate disinformation. Moreover, they can adapt their arguments based on the responses of human interlocutors, showcasing their dynamic and persuasive capabilities. College students participating in initial experiments failed to identify our bots, underscoring the urgent need for increased awareness and education about the dangers of AI-driven disinformation, and in particular, disinformation spread by bots. The implications of our research point to the significant challenges posed by social bots in the upcoming 2024 U.S. presidential election and beyond.<|reference_end|>
@article{doshi2024sleeper,
    title={Sleeper Social Bots: a new generation of AI disinformation bots are
  already a political threat},
    author={Jaiv Doshi, Ines Novacic, Curtis Fletcher, Mats Borges, Elea Zhong,
  Mark C. Marino, Jason Gan, Sophia Mager, Dane Sprague, and Melinda Xia},
    journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2408.12603},
    year={2024},
    archivePrefix={arXiv},
    eprint={2408.12603},
    primaryClass={cs.CY cs.AI}
}