Mind completely blown by Maddow story tonight on fake AI Facebook personas

[greenman3610]

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-says-pro-trump-media-outlet-used-artificial-intelligence-create-n1105951



Facebook took down more than 600 accounts tied to the pro-Trump conspiracy website The Epoch Times for using identities created by artificial intelligence to push stories about a variety of topics including impeachment and elections.

The network was called “The BL” and was run by Vietnamese users posing as Americans, using fake photos generated by algorithms to simulate real identities. The Epoch Media group, which pushes a variety of pro-Trump conspiracy theories, spent $9.5 million on ads to spread content through the now-suspended pages and groups.

“What’s new here is that this is purportedly a U.S.-based media company leveraging foreign actors posing as Americans to push political content. We’ve seen it a lot with state actors in the past,” Facebook’s head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleiche, said in an interview.

The network had over 55 million followers on Facebook, almost double the following of Kim Kardashian West.

[Ilsa]

1. The whole show so far is must-see.

I need to get my son to watch it too.

[leftieNanner]

6. Was Rachel actually on tonight?

I figured it would be a fill-in because she was not on last night and she will likely take next week off.

I'll have to tune in at 9 PM (we are west coast).

Thanks for the heads up.

[Ilsa]

7. Yes, she was on and when she

handed over to Ali Velsher he commented, "see you next week," or "see you Monday."

[rockfordfile]

2. There's a lot of this

[dewsgirl]

3. I sub to those Brightside videos she mentioned.

Mr.Banana propaganda is insane. I honestly have no idea how anyone can fight this, with the government embracing any and all interference.

[Mersky]

4. Kick. Needs awareness.

Rachel detailed Russian interests based in Cyprus slipping in misinformation videos alongside inane or seemingly innocuous content on YouTube. Also, fake, AI generated avatars promoting tRump on facebook.

Here's a link to Snopes efforts in regards to the fake accounts on fb: https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/12/20/facebook-removes-the-bl-pages/

[Wounded Bear]

5. I get quite a few friend requests...

You know, the ones with a 'photo' and very minimal info on identification and not even links to people I know.

I click the little x and move on.