India goes into Lok Sabha 2024 elections phase from April 19 to June 1 2024 and the government has been warned about major hacking attempts using AI tools by bad actors from China.
The warning has been sounded out by tech giant Microsoft in its blog post, where the main focus has been attributed to the use of AI tools and content to influence voting behaviour of people in the United States where the US Presidential elections will happen this year.
Microsoft Warns About China’s AI-Laden Influence On Elections
“With major elections taking place around the world this year, particularly in India, South Korea and the United States, we assess that China will, at a minimum, create and amplify AI-generated content to benefit its interests,” Microsoft pointed out in its post here.
The company mentions that AI has become a major weapon of choice for hackers, who can easily morph videos and change voices of famous personalities and share them publicly at large which helps it go viral and reach millions.
China has been at loggerheads with the US and Indian government for a while, including a trade ban that has ensued between China and US since 2020. Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center shares its findings regularly and the latest developments will surely get the ruling government and its law enforcement agencies on high alert.
Using AI Tools To Disrupt Governments
“China is using fake social media accounts to poll voters on what divides them most to sow division and possibly influence the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in its favor,” the post highlights the concerns from its findings.
Some of the instances cited by Microsoft showing China’s attempts to disrupt the elections include the August 2023 Maui wildfires which they claimed was part of US govt testing a military-grade weather weapon which deliberately caused the wildfire in the region.
There is also the use of AI content to destabilise the Taiwanese Presidential elections in January 2024. Microsoft’s security agency noticed the nation-backed bad actors using AI tools for the first time to influence foreign elections, which is not good news at all.
“China’s increasing experimentation in augmenting memes, videos, and audio will likely continue – and may prove more effective down the line,” Microsoft adds and also gives a forewarning to the US, India and other countries going into major elections this year. AI has already shown its potential to cause harm so it is vital that tools are developed to counter its threat and safeguard people from falling for misinformation on the internet.
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