紐時賞析／伊中開創AI認知作戰自動化-台灣頭條

Iran, China ran first autonomous AI influence campaigns 伊中開創AI認知作戰自動化 Iran, China and groups in Israel used artificial intelligence in novel ways in recent months to create first-of-their-kind influence campaigns on social media, ratcheting up concerns among U.S. officials and security researchers about the fast-evolving technology. 近幾個月，伊朗、中國和以色列的部分團體開始以不同以往的方式運用AI，在社群媒體上發動前所未見的操作輿論行動，令美國官員和安全研究人員更加擔心這項快速發展的科技。 The countries and groups combined AI tactics to ramp up the speed and scale of online campaigns beyond what people could easily achieve and with minimal human interaction, U.S. officials and security researchers with knowledge of the efforts said. 這些國家與團體結合多種AI手法，以極少人力，把網路行動的速度與規模提高到過去難以達成的程度。 First, the countries and groups turned to Chinese “open-source” AI models, which are increasingly powerful systems that are freely available to download and modify. Then they used those AI models to create “agents,” which are bots that can operate software and complete tasks on their own. 首先，他們利用中國開發的「開源」AI模型。這些系統能力愈來愈強，可自由下載與修改；接著再用模型建立能自行操作軟體、完成任務的AI「代理程式」。 Once hundreds of those AI agents were let loose, they autonomously opened networks of fake accounts on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, X and TikTok, the officials and security researchers said. The agents then rapidly seeded the fake accounts with false posts about politics and current events to sway opinions and inflame issues. 數百個AI代理程式啟動後，便會自行在Instagram、Facebook、X與TikTok等平台大量建立假帳號，再迅速發布政治與時事虛假訊息，企圖影響輿論、煽動爭議。 In most of the cases, the safeguards that would normally stop an AI model from creating a fake account or manipulating discussions online were turned off by those operating the systems, said the U.S. officials, who were not authorized to speak publicly on sensitive issues. 知情美國官員表示，操作者多半關閉原本用來阻止AI建立假帳號或操縱網路討論的安全機制。相關行動因此引起美國情報機構、大型科技公司與資安專家的注意。 The campaigns caught the attention of U.S. intelligence, major tech companies and security experts, the people with knowledge of the campaigns said. These groups found that the Chinese and the Iranian campaigns were state-backed, while two Israeli campaigns were traced to private companies. 調查發現，中國與伊朗的行動都有國家支持；另外兩起源自以色列的行動，則追查到私人企業。 The state-backed Iranian campaign was especially concerning, the officials and security researchers said. Iran targeted U.S. audiences, with the agent-generated fake accounts posing as everyday Americans who lived in major cities. The accounts tagged journalists and politicians in comments that spread popular memes and anti-Republican Party views, the people said. Nearly 80,000 people followed the AI-created accounts, which were active in the first half of the year. 其中尤令美方擔憂的是伊朗。伊朗鎖定美國受眾，讓AI生成的假帳號假扮住在美國大城市的一般民眾，留言標記記者與政治人物，散播熱門迷因及反共和黨觀點。這些帳號今年上半年十分活躍，累計吸引近8萬人追蹤。 Of the two agentic campaigns that were traced back to companies in Israel, one was generated over the summer by IntelEye, a Tel Aviv-based firm, according to the two people with knowledge of the campaign. 兩起與以色列企業有關、利用AI代理程式進行的輿論操弄行動中，其中一起今年夏天由特拉維夫公司IntelEye生成。兩名知情人士證實此事。 Maor Sellek, an IntelEye co-founder, said it was an experiment to test the safety of AI models. “IntelEye does not operate influence campaigns,” Sellek said. IntelEye共同創辦人謝立克表示，那只是測試AI模型安全性的實驗，並強調：「IntelEye並未從事輿論操弄。」文／Sheera Frenkel, Eli Tan and Dustin Volz，譯／國際中心說文解字看新聞【張佑生】決定選舉勝負的因素很多，近年來愈來愈常出現介選(meddle in)說法。報導點名伊朗、中國與以色列以novel ways操作輿論，novel比new更強調「新穎、前所未有」。有「這是第一次出現、方法本身很特別」意味，與後面“first-of-their-kind”呼應；new ways只表示「新的方法」。在英文的國安與資安語境中，influence campaign/operation指有目的、有組織地透過假訊息或社群帳號來扭曲公眾認知，宜理解為「影響/操弄輿論行動」而非不知所云的「影響力行動」。前面動詞可用launch或mount，強調「幕後黑手/操縱」可用orchestrate；描述「打擊/下架」可用disrupt或dismantle. 次一級的是「帶風向」(steer/shape the narrative)，偏向即時、現場把討論往特定方向推；比操縱輿論更強一級的是「認知作戰」(cognitive warfare)。 ratchet up是逐步增加難以倒退：Overuse of credit cards has ratcheted up consumer debt to unacceptable levels.或觀眾胃口被養大：Audiences' expectations are ratcheted up as they are exposed to high-budget productions. 教育新血流失：是什麼逼走年輕教師？