Future elections may be swayed by intelligent, weaponized chatbots

MIT Technology Review As we’ve created technical countermeasures that are better at detecting bot-like behavior, it’s become easier to shut them down. The next generation of bots is rapidly evolving. Admittedly, these conversational interfaces are still bumpy, but they’re getting better. The propaganda bots won’t declare themselves to be automated. They’ll present themselves as human users participating in online conversation in comment sections, group chats, and message boards. Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t happening.  Most bots merely react to keywords that trigger a boilerplate response. As bots learn how to understand context and intent, they become more adept at engaging […]