Examples of AI-generated faces, not connected with the network of fake authors described in this news story. | Image: The Verge
A network of fictional journalists, analysts, and political consultants has been used to place opinion pieces favorable to certain Gulf states in a range of media outlets, an investigation from The Daily Beast has revealed. At least 19 fake personas were used to author op-eds published in dozens of mainly conservative publications, with AI-generated headshots of would-be authors used to trick targets into believing the writers were real people.
It’s not the first time AI has been used in this way, though it’s unusual to see machine learning tech deployed for online misinformation in the wild. Last year, a report from The Associated Press found a fake profile on LinkedIn, part of a network of likely spies trying to make connections with…