New analysis by Valerie Wirtschafter (@vwirtschafter.bsky.social): AI-generated content flagged on X has surged to record highs since the Iran conflict began. The data point to a coordinated effort to use AI as a tool of information warfare—eroding public support and sowing confusion at scale.
To mark the anniversary of DOGE, I explore how some of its early activities may have inadvertently undermined efforts to adopt AI into the federal government, despite a goal to use it “to deliver the highly responsive government the American people expect & deserve” www.brookings.edu/articles/how...
I'm already seeing people on here use AI face tools to try to identify the masked ICE agent in Minneapolis. It's a truly terrible idea and here's why
Compiling a document with links to high quality generative AI use trainings and other resources. Do you know of any good ones that should be included? Please share them here!
I am hoping to talk to technologists in (or previously in) & around the federal gov for a project. If that sounds like you & you'd be willing to chat with me about what the federal government gets right & what it can do better, reach out at vwirtschafter@brookings.edu or send me a message here!
A first sighting in the wild. I guess we’re all rolling with the name Community Notes! Any ideas as to whether this data will be available?
Since the viral Gemini image incident, I've wondered how long it would take for genAI to become politicized. It’s become increasingly clear that moment has arrived—much like it did for social media platforms. Read more from my new @brookings.edu research here: www.brookings.edu/articles/is-...
Since the viral Gemini image incident, I've wondered how long it would take for genAI to become politicized. It’s become increasingly clear that moment has arrived—much like it did for social media platforms. Read more from my new @brookings.edu research here: www.brookings.edu/articles/is-...
screenshot of X post by verified user "jmo" with handle @cuntycakes123: for those who haven't been following, this nepal story is fucking crazy: - bunch of teens and early 20s kids plan start a social movement against the current regime on social issues and econmical inequalties - government gets wind of it scaling and tries to geoblock social media - people get more pissed off, start protesting - government cant handle the protests, lift social media ban - doesn't do anything, people just organize further - burn down parliment building, pm's house. beats the shit out of the finance minister in the streets, kills the pm's wife. - kids elect their own new PM on their discord server, ex-chief justice of the supreme court who was part of the 1990 revolution that ended the monarchy - army head ackowldges the validity of the discord vote and is meeting the new interm PM to discuss elections for new leadership going foward
X is wild because you can post a link to a NYT feature story on this and no one will see it, but cuntycakes123 can make a post summarizing the main bullet points with no attribution and it will go viral and everyone will be like "OMG why isn't the media covering this?!?"
Adversaries are having a field day right now stoking these tensions, & they’re not even trying to hide it. Imagine what they’re doing covertly! Political violence in all of its forms is horrific, and the info environment is — perhaps unsurprisingly — really failing in this moment.
The amount rumors & conspiracies online right now is truly stunning & a clear illustration of the info supply & demand problem during breaking news periods and tragedies, made much worse by major platforms effectively abandoning content moderation & mainstream outlets running with unverified claims.
Political violence is bad. It usually begets more political violence.
Celebrating political violence is bad. It usually encourages more political violence, against various targets.
Campus shootings are bad. They make everyone on campus less safe.
It's bad that what I wrote here is controversial.
The problem with this (or goal all along!) is that @anthropic.com’s UI makes it so difficult to know which toggle is on and which is off! www.theverge.com/anthropic/76...
Come intern with my team and me in the AI and emerging tech initiative @brookings.edu! interns-brookings.icims.com/jobs/3690/fa...
So obviously AI slop with more than 32k likes on Threads…
A peak inside what the federal government is planning for AI adoption (GitHub link included) www.theregister.com/2025/06/10/t...
The effect of this is so much bigger than Google’s advertising revenue and extends to companies that rely on Google search to drive traffic…which is most of the internet?
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/goog...
As a new mom, I thank you immensely for this thread!!
Opening a significant Senate hearing on AI policy at which Sam Altman will testify, Ted Cruz (R-Texas) calls for a hands-off approach: "To lead in AI, the United States cannot allow regulation, even the supposedly benign kind, to choke innovation."
Live: www.commerce.senate.gov/2025/5/winni...
Meanwhile, over on X, a fake "Polish reporter" with an AI avatar has convinced thousands of people that Sen. Gillibrand is campaigning for Cuomo.
Every day a new little experiment in how easily people fall for bullshit they can react to.
Apple with the brutal AI summary
Ending rather than expanding this program should tell you all you need to know about the desire to use technology to improve how government functions apnews.com/article/irs-...
What a great way to communicate with voters. I wish more people with policy expertise would do this type of outreach www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/s/Vrj...
Love to see my alma mater @bowdoin-college.bsky.social tackling some of these big questions www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/t...
"Effective policymaking relies on accurate and timely data," says Caren Grown. Listen to a new episode of The Current, on the purge of data and information from U.S. government websites.
Totally! But if it has downstream effects, why not?
One of my favorite assignments I’ve seen is for students to pick a relevant topic or idea on Wikipedia lacking in information and do research to fill it in! www.nature.com/articles/d41...
This type of error may seem minor but is really detrimental toward lowering the political temperature and working toward some common conception of “truth”
