India vote may be influenced by China using AI, a Microsoft research warns

Tech giant Microsoft has cautioned that China may use artificial intelligence-generated information on social media to sway public opinion in order to further its geopolitical objectives during elections in nations like South Korea, India, and the US.

Clint Watts, general manager of the Microsoft Threat Analysis Centre (MTAC), wrote in a blog post, “We assess that China will, at a minimum, create and amplify AI-generated content to benefit its interests given the major elections taking place around the world this year, particularly in India, South Korea, and the US.”

Watts has a history of critical writings about Chinese, Russian, and Iranian cyber influence efforts. Though he acknowledges that there is still little likelihood that this kind of information would influence the outcome of the election, he believes China will continue to experiment with enhancing memes, videos, and audio, and that this will likely lead to more successful outcomes in the future.

The most recent 16-page East Asia report from the MTAC, headlined “Same targets, new playbooks: East Asia threat actors employ unique methods,” made a passing mention of India.

According to the report, Chinese groups such as Storm-1376 conducted a campaign against Canadian Members of Parliament by using the likeness of a Chinese dissident living in Canada. They also reportedly heavily interfered in the recent Taiwanese polls to unseat Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate William Lai, but both efforts were unsuccessful. It asserted that similar strategies were also used ineffectively against South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan.

AI-generated or AI-enhanced material has been refined further by Chinese influence tactics. The influencers driving these efforts have shown a readiness to produce original video, memes, and audio material in addition to amplifying AI-generated media that supports their strategic narratives.