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Tech Leader Pro podcast 2023 week 20, the Irish Times AI hoax

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Today I am going to discuss the recent AI hoax that impacted upon the Irish Times, resulting in them mistakenly publishing an opinion piece by a contributor that did not exist, and why I believe it was actually social engineering and not AI that was to blame.

Topics:

  • Last week, the Irish Times was duped into publishing an article on their website that was claimed to be at least partly generated with AI.
  • The author who submitted the article used a fake name, and a profile picture generated with Dall-E 2, source: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/i-wanted-to-stir-the-s-says-person-behind-the-irish-times-hoax-fake-tan-article/a1844300112.html
  • The article itself was at least partly-generated with Chat-GPT, but that's not the main point.
  • The main point is that via a series of emails, the hoaxer managed to convince the editorial team of a major newspaper, the "paper of record" here in Ireland, to publish an opinion piece on their website from a contributor that did not exist.
  • I won't discuss the content of the article itself, as it's identify politics which is boring to me, but you can find it on web archives if you are really interested: https://archive.is/oWcVH
  • The Irish Times removed it after others pointed out their mistake on Twitter, and issued a standard apology from their editor: https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2023/05/14/a-message-from-the-editor/
  • The reaction from the journalists is interesting: rather than focusing on this being a simple confidence trick, which only worked due to their bias being exploitable, instead they took the angle that AI was to blame. The Irish Times editor stated in their apology: "It has also underlined one of the challenges raised by generative AI for news organisations."
  • In reality, this hoax would have worked equally well without any AI being used. Instead, this in a classic example of what hackers call "social engineering".
  • "In the context of information security, social engineering is the psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. A type of confidence trick for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or system access, it differs from a traditional "con" in that it is often one of many steps in a more complex fraud scheme.[1] It has also been defined as "any act that influences a person to take an action that may or may not be in their best interests."", source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(security)
  • Rather than admitting they are biased and this bias was exploited by the hoaxer, instead they are deflecting towards AI as being the culprit.
  • I will expect many more news organisations be to caught out in this way in the near future.
  • What I am working on this week:
    • Another podcast episode earlier this week: https://techleader.pro/a/589-Tech-Leader-Pro-podcast-22,-On-dealing-with-recruiters
    • Media I am enjoying this week:
      • "Silo" on Apple+
      • Currently reading: "Dune Messiah" by Frank Herbert, and "A Case of Conscience" by James Blish.

        • Notes and subscription links: https://techleader.pro/a/590-Tech-Leader-Pro-podcast-2023-week-20,-the-Irish-Times-AI-hoax

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        Tech Leader ProBy John Collins