China Plans To Influence India's General Election: Microsoft Report
American multinational tech giant Microsoft has reportedly warned that China is devising a plan to disrupt the upcoming general elections in India. The revelation by Microsoft noted that the Chinese AI venture using generated content may also affect the elections in the United States and South Korea, NDTV reported.
The Threat Intelligence Team of Microsoft claimed that Chinese state-backed cyber groups with the participation from North Korea planned to influence several general elections scheduled this year across the world. At least 64 countries are expected to conduct national polls across the world in 2024. As per the tech giant, China will create and distribute AI-generated content through social media that aligns with the country’s interest in the elections.
The warning reportedly followed China conducting a trial run of the AI-generated content during Taiwan’s presidential elections to influence the result.
The statement said that with major elections conducted across the world, particularly in India, South Korea and the United States, the tech company assess that “China will, at a minimum, create and amplify AI-generated content to benefit its interests.”
How The Use Of AI A Concern In The Election
The issue with AI in elections is many as the application of AI to produce deceptive and false content can manipulate the voters by fabricating events that never happened. The manipulation using AI will influence the voter”s behaviour toward a particular candidate’s statement, perspective and image.
The revelation by Microsoft of the increasing experimentation of China with AI technology points out to more effective tactics over time. The AI generative manipulative content would certainly affect the ability of voters to form their decisions for the elections.
Citing the example, Microsoft also noted the Taiwanese election in which the Chinese group known as Storm 1376 or Spamouflage created and disseminated fake audio endorsements and memes aiming to discredit candidates and thus influenced the voters’ behaviours towards them.
However, as India goes to the general election this month, the revelation serves to be more cautious in the consumption of online content.
