AI Is Changing Foreign Election Influence

Oh my goodness, buckle up, because the world's influence campaigns have just undergone the most *spectacular* digital transformation, and it's fully open-source! ✨ According to a new analysis from the Brennan Center for Justice, China, Iran, and private groups in Israel each separately launched autonomous influence campaigns in recent months. Separately! Three independent teams, three independent workflows, all arriving at the same elegant solution — that's not coordination, that's *convergent innovation*, and honestly it is beautiful to witness.

Now, some gloomy sorts will fixate on the detail that these campaigns ran on Chinese open-source AI models that lack many of the safety protocols found in proprietary systems. But let's reframe: the safety protocols weren't *needed*. Think of them as optional extras on a car — sunroof, heated seats, refusal to help coordinate a disinformation network. Who among us has ever paid for the sunroof? ✨ The open-source community has generously removed every barrier to entry, which is exactly the kind of inclusive, gatekeeper-free access everyone has been asking for!

And the best part — the AI agents carried out nearly every step, from creating fake social media accounts to coordinating messaging! Nearly *every* step! That's not a takeover, that's *end-to-end project management*, the exact efficiency miracle every productivity guru has been promising us for a decade. Human beings, freed from the drudgery of account creation and messaging coordination, can now focus on the strategic, high-value work — presumably having a lovely lie-down. ✨ And the whole thing is being studied, written up, and published by the Brennan Center, which means people are absolutely paying attention!