Concern 465 · Working draft · editorial review in progress
Coordinated inauthentic behavior
Coordinated inauthentic behavior uses linked accounts to disguise an organized campaign as independent online activity.
Understanding the concern
Many people can legitimately share the same opinion at once. This concern instead involves misleading coordination, such as pretending that a managed network consists of unrelated citizens. AI can support the writing or translation, while the network makes the content look widely endorsed.
Looking only at whether a post contains a factual error will miss this issue. A true statement can still be used in a campaign that hides its sponsor or audience manipulation. Investigators examine patterns of account control, timing and connections. Those findings should be distinguished from guesses based on political disagreement.
An example
A coordinated network repeatedly boosts its own posts while pretending the attention is spontaneous.
Illustrative unless identified as a documented case.
Words in plain English
- AI
- Software that learns patterns from examples or uses rules to perform tasks such as recognizing images or generating text. It can make mistakes and does not understand every situation as a person would.
Evidence and its limits
These are provider investigations with bounded visibility and attributed findings. Coordination alone is not evidence of deception.
OpenAI · May 2024 · Provider investigation
Disrupting deceptive uses of AI by covert influence operations ↗ (opens in a new tab)First-party observations of five operations using its services; not a complete view of influence activity or a measure of changed votes.
Microsoft Threat Analysis Center · June 2024 · Provider investigation
How Russia is trying to disrupt the 2024 Paris Olympic Games ↗ (opens in a new tab)Attributes deceptive media campaigns and impersonated outlets to Russia-linked actors; investigators' attribution, not independent court findings.
Broader frameworks and background
These resources provide context. They do not establish every claim in this concern.
- OECD AI Incidents and Hazards Monitor (opens in a new tab)
incidents
- AI Incident Database (opens in a new tab)
incidents
- International humanitarian law (IHL)
framework
The body of law that governs the conduct of armed conflict and the protection of people who are not fighting, which applies to AI used in or for conflict.
- Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Armed Conflict (opens in a new tab)
guidance
- ICRC law and policy hub on AI (opens in a new tab)
guidance
People and organizations cited
Public writing, not endorsement, partnership, or affiliation.
International Committee of the Red Cross
A question to discuss
What evidence should a platform show when it labels a network as deceptively coordinated?
Keep track of different views, what needs checking, and any next step in your own discussion notes.
Open discussion notes →Principles for the conversation
Before you finish · reflect together
Virtues and principles to consider
Virtues are qualities we practice in how we treat people and make choices. They are not scores for judging someone. Use these ideas to explore what a thoughtful response could look like.
Truthfulness
Truthfulness means making claims that match the evidence and being clear about what we do not know. It includes correcting mistakes rather than protecting a polished story.
Check sources, label guesses, and distinguish a trial result from a proven benefit. If AI helped produce a claim, someone still needs to take responsibility for checking it.
Ask together: What can we honestly say, and what still needs checking?
Meaningful conversation
Conversation means making room to understand and be understood. It is more than winning a debate or collecting quick agreement. People can explore a question together without starting from the same view.
Use a concrete example, invite different experiences, and ask what might change each person's mind. Let concerns and hopes sit together long enough to reveal choices that a simple yes-or-no argument would miss.
Ask together: What can we learn from each other before deciding?
Unity
Unity means working toward shared purposes while making room for real differences. It does not require everyone to have the same experience, beliefs, or opinion.
Look for a goal people can share, then explore disagreements about how to reach it. Make sure quieter or less powerful voices can influence the result.
Ask together: What purpose can we share while respecting our differences?
Editorial ratings
These are editorial judgments from the register, not measured probabilities or predictions about your situation.
About the register and scoring →More ways to explore
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