AI-generated profile pictures are becoming a significant tool for coordinated manipulation on X, with researchers from Germany identifying nearly 8,000 accounts using synthetic faces primarily focused on amplifying political messages and crypto schemes.

“Recent advances in the field of generative artificial intelligence (AI) have blurred the lines between authentic and machine-generated content, making it almost impossible for humans to distinguish between such media,” the study notes.

The research, conducted by teams from Ruhr University Bochum, GESIS Leibniz Institute, and CISPA Helmholtz Center, found that more than half of these accounts were created in 2023, often in suspicious bulk creation events.

“A significant portion of accounts was created in bulk shortly before our data collection, which is a common pattern for accounts created for message amplification, disinformation campaigns, or similar disruptive activity,” the researchers explain.

This finding gains additional context from a recent platform analysis carried out by the Center for Countering Digital Hate showing that X owner Elon Musk’s political posts favoring Donald Trump received 17.1 billion views—more than double all US political campaign ads com

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Author: Jose Antonio Lanz