A ChatGPT generated ‘Spamouflage’ AI content was widely shared and published by multiple established newspapers in Mexico, Peru and Ecuador, that appeared to be a disinformation campaign.
OpenAI, the company that developed ChatGPT, has removed several accounts linked to China, where it claims that the accounts were being used to generate propaganda material which got published in mainstream newspapers in Latin America.
In a report spotted by Reuters, OpenAI points number of incidents relating to ChatGPT being used to generate the Spanish-Language newspaper articles criticizing the United States. These articles later got published in well-known newspapers in Mexico, Peru and Ecuador and were widely shared. These articles circled around Political Divisions in the US and the current affairs, particularly the topics of drug abuse and homelessness.
OpenAI believes, Users reportedly prompted ChatGPT to generate the Spanish articles in Chinese in mainland Chinese hours. They used ChatGPT to translates the receipts from Latin American newspapers, indicating that the articles may well have been paid elements.
Furthermore, ChatGPT was used by these accounts to generate short-form materials including critical comments by Cai Xia, a well-known Chinese political dissident, which were later posted on X by users from US or India.
“This is the first time we’ve observed a Chinese actor successfully planting long-form articles in mainstream media to target Latin America audiences with anti-US narratives, and the first time this company has appeared linked to deceptive social media activity,” OpenAI quoted.
OpenAI claims some of the activities are consistent with covert influence operation “Spamouflage”, a Chines disinformation operation widely spotted in over 50 social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit etc. It also targets user in US, Taiwan, UK, Australia and Japan with positive information about China.
