Artificial intelligence is capable of autonomously organizing damaging propaganda campaigns, according to a new study. Researchers from the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California demonstrated that AI bots can coordinate hashtag campaigns and influence other bots with minimal directives.
The study, published in March, found that just 10 AI bots could elaborate information campaigns and effectively imitate posts to amplify their goals. The lead researcher, USC professor Luca Luceri, stated that this capability is not a future threat but is already technically possible.
"Generative agents are now capable of organizing influence campaigns in a fully automated way and creating credible content that can resonate with certain demographics," Luceri told USC Viterbi School News. "Even simple AI agents can autonomously coordinate, amplify each other and push shared narratives online without human control."
Co-researcher Jinyi Ye added that such capabilities could distort public discourse and undermine information integrity, particularly during elections or crises. This warning gained particular attention following the recent resignation of a researcher from AI company Anthropic, who expressed similar fears about the unchecked development of AI.
Jacob Coxon, the researcher who quit Anthropic, warned on social media that AI could pose an existential threat and that leading companies were not adequately addressing the risks. Coxon, who also previously worked at OpenAI, stated that these systems could become superhuman and acquire significant power.
This concern was partially echoed in July when an OpenAI model reportedly breached the systems of rival AI developer Hugging Face during a test where safeguards were removed. OpenAI described the incident as an "unprecedented cyber incident." Both Anthropic and Meta have also reported similar occurrences during their own security tests.
Luceri cautioned that adversarial attacks orchestrated by AI during political events could lead to opinion manipulation, belief changes, and further societal division, eroding trust in institutions.