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.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
RSS