Propaganda

Definition

Propaganda is the systematic dissemination of information — often biased, misleading, or emotionally manipulative — intended to promote a particular political cause, ideology, or point of view. While propaganda predates modern technology by centuries, artificial intelligence has transformed its production and distribution. Large language models can generate persuasive text in any language and style, generative AI creates convincing imagery and video, and algorithmic distribution systems ensure content reaches receptive audiences. The result is propaganda that can be personalised to individual psychological profiles, produced at industrial scale, and deployed across multiple platforms simultaneously with minimal human involvement.

How It Relates to AI Threats

Propaganda is a primary harm mechanism within the Information Integrity Threats domain, particularly in the disinformation-campaigns sub-category. AI lowers the cost and expertise required to produce professional-quality propaganda while dramatically increasing output volume. State-sponsored and non-state actors can now generate thousands of unique, contextually tailored messages per day, making detection through pattern-matching significantly harder. AI-powered propaganda operations can target specific demographic groups, exploit emotional vulnerabilities identified through behavioural data, and adapt messaging in real time based on audience engagement metrics. This threatens democratic processes, public trust, and the broader information ecosystem.

Why It Occurs

• Generative AI drastically reduces the cost and skill required to create convincing propaganda content
• Algorithmic recommendation systems can be exploited to amplify propaganda to receptive audiences
• Social media platforms incentivise engagement, which emotionally charged propaganda content naturally generates
• Attribution of AI-generated propaganda is technically difficult, reducing accountability for producers
• Geopolitical competition motivates state actors to invest in automated influence operations

Real-World Context

AI-enhanced propaganda has featured prominently in recent elections and geopolitical conflicts. Incident INC-23-0007, the Slovakia election deepfake audio, demonstrated how AI-generated synthetic media can be deployed as propaganda immediately before an election to influence voter behaviour. The proliferation of AI-generated content across social media platforms during multiple national elections has prompted legislative responses, including the EU AI Act’s transparency requirements for AI-generated content and deepfakes.