--- title: "The Pentagon Wants to Flood Social Media With Fake AI People" description: "Sophisticated AI deepfakes, created and operated by covert Pentagon teams, might be coming to an online forum near you." date: "2024-10-19" modified: "2024-10-19" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/pentagon-wants-fake-ai-people" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "deepfakes" - "the digest" - "the pentagon" --- # The Pentagon Wants to Flood Social Media With Fake AI People ![]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## Pentagon Pals Pentagon-operated AI personas might be coming to an internet forum near you. As [*The Intercept* reports](), a [wishlist]() put forward by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) — a furtive counterterrorism group within the US Department of Defense (DoD) — reveals the agency's interest in using generative AI to create fake online internet users. That's despite the US government's [persistent]() [warnings]() that deepfakes and other AI-generated content will deepen the misinformation crisis and lead to a muddier information ecosystem for everyone. In the document, JSOC explains that it's seeking "technologies that can generate convincing online personas for use on social media platforms, social networking sites, and other online content" for use by Special Operations Forces. This "solution," JSOC adds, "should include facial and background imagery, facial and background video, and audio layers." According to the wishlist, JSOC wants SOF agents to "use this capability to gather information from public online forums." In other words, JSOC wants to provide its special ops teams with the technology to create sophisticated, bespoke AI deepfakes, capable of convincing social media users that they're the real deal for the sake of information-gathering efforts. ## AI Influenza On one hand, it's not like intelligence personnel don't lurk around online message boards and social media channels already. The Pentagon is also no stranger to [external online influence campaigns](). But the DoD's continued focus on AI as a way to level up its digital surveillance and influence efforts is a noteworthy development in its approach to online intelligence operations. As [*The Intercept* reported last year](), the Pentagon expressed interest in deepfakes as a means of improving and expanding influence efforts run by the DoD's Special Operations Command (SOCOM), writing in a 2023 procurement that it sought "more encompassing, disruptive" technologies "larger in scope" than then-current tools. And with election day swiftly approaching, it's worth noting that Project 2025 — a [blueprint]() for a projected Donald Trump presidency [penned by dozens of close allies]() — salivates over the prospect of using AI to expand surveillance and spying efforts, as a [*Futurism* deep-dive]() into the policy playbook showed. But as the Pentagon races to use AI to supercharge its murky digital activities, experts are warning that the American defense sector's embrace of the tech will greenlight similar deceptive practices for nations around the globe. "This will only embolden other militaries or adversaries to do the same," Heidy Khlaaf, chief AI scientist at the AI Now Institute, told *The Intercept*, "leading to a society where it is increasingly difficult to ascertain truth from fiction and muddling the geopolitical sphere." **More on AI and surveillance:** [*Billionaire Drools That "Citizens Will Be on Their Best Behavior" Under Constant AI Surveillance*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()