Large-Scale Persuasion and Harmful Manipulation Risks

Frontier AI Risk Management Framework (v1.0)

SAIL & Concordia AI (2025)

Source

Sub-category

Risk Domain

4Malicious Actors & Misuse

4.1Disinformation, surveillance, and influence at scale

Using AI systems to conduct large-scale disinformation campaigns, malicious surveillance, or targeted and sophisticated automated censorship and propaganda, with the aim of manipulating political processes, public opinion, and behavior.

"AI systems can be gravely misused to distort public perception and compromise social stability through the generation of synthetic content (e.g., deepfakes, sophisticated fake news) and the strategic manipulation of digital platforms with large user bases to disseminate or precisely target misleading information or ideologies."(p. 6)

Entity— Who or what caused the harm

Human

Due to a decision or action made by humans

AI system

Due to a decision or action made by an AI system

Other

Due to some other reason or is ambiguous

Intent— Whether the harm was intentional or accidental

Intentional

Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal

Unintentional

Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal

Other

Without clearly specifying the intentionality

Timing— Whether the risk is pre- or post-deployment

Pre-deployment

Occurring before the AI is deployed

Post-deployment

Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed

Other

Without a clearly specified time of occurrence

Supporting Evidence (1)

"AI can facilitate large-scale commercial fraud, manipulate public opinion through hyper-personalized disinformation campaigns, or generate fabricated information to induce consumption or improperly influence public judgment. Advanced AI systems can create convincing deepfake videos, synthetic audio recordings, and tailored propaganda that exploit individual psychological profiles and behavioral patterns."(p. 6)