The General was strolling along the stage, clicking through images on the projector screen.
“… The Red Scare, Rosevelt’s Fireside Chats, Churchill’s speeches, Nazi Propaganda, Operation Trust and the Bolshevik Revolution, the division of Catholics into Protestants, all of these are history to you, something you might glimpse in a documentary, all of these movements made possible through Mass Communications. A current phenomenon—one that few even consider a threat—are ChatBots.”
The General clicked the remote and an old grainy photo appeared on the screen. It was of a man seated beside a table with a rotary phone at his side. The phone’s cord meandered and slithered across the table and into the large metal box of an ancient computer. The computer had magnetic tape drives on its face, round spools that looked like owl eyes.
“The first Online Chatbot was named A.L.I.E., an acronym for Artificial, Linguistic, Internet, Entity. It was designed to engage with real online users and make conversation. Seemingly benign, A.L.I.E. could post questions and converse with people via typed comments. If an engagement was simple enough, a real life human could walk away without ever knowing they had chatted with a computer program. Today, users on all messaging boards are subject to ChatBot activity, and with advancements in Artificial Intelligence, their sophistication has increased exponentially. It is currently estimated that over twenty percent of all online comments are made by ChatBots.
“I want you to imagine a million chatbots, Cadets, a million computer programs, all aligned, all communicating with each other, all working in conjunction with one another, all having real world followers. Still seem benign?…”
Some of the Cadets smiled. Some looked confused.
“Now, imagine those ChatBots programmed to engage with users only on certain topics. Keyword Topics. Topics that are searchable through a platform’s own search engine.
“Let’s say, a famous singer has a new album coming out. Chatbots could be tasked with commenting on how great the album is, on how spectacular a new song is, on how beautiful or hot the singer looks. And with the amount of comments being made and shared, ChatBots could also game a platform’s algorithms, causing the specific topic to trend.”
The General raised his palms to the students.
“Still seem benign?… I mean, who really cares if ChatBots are bolstering a new music album?”
The General dropped his hands.
“But what if that ChatBot army were tasked with something else?… Something like, Healthcare Choices, or Lifestyle Choices, or Individual Freedoms?… What about a political ideology?… What about an election outcome?… How about, what side to be on, in a War?”
The auditorium was silent.
“What if an individual or group decided to use ChatBots as a Weapon? Not common people, mind you, but individuals of a particular mindset and capability, people like Military Commanders, Intelligence Organizations, Heads of Large Corporate Entities, or Political Hegemonies?
“I asked the question, ‘What if,’ but those who are in-the-know of our geopolitical landscape understand very well that online Chatbots have been weaponized since their onset. They are the fencing used to coral the equivalent of Mental Cattle.”
Laughs rumbled through the auditorium.
“I realize that statement is funny, but you should remember, one day, some of you will be in command. Some of your soldiers may be that Mental Cattle I am speaking of, and their ability to complete a mission will reside with you.”
The General scanned the Cadets.
“Never-the-less, Chatbots are an extremely useful tool, and a small portion of, Psychological Warfare.
“While the initial implementation of a ChatBot Army can bolster a specific topic or viewpoint, like heightening an album’s popularity or stiffening a negative opinion about a celebrity, the use of ChatBots over time, through lasting and dynamic campaigns, is exceptionally powerful. The slow herding of Collective Opinion toward a far off goal can have great military significance.
“Imagine targeting an enemy nation and selecting a specific demographic of their population. Let’s say, Males, aged fifteen to twenty-four. Now, we task our Chatbot Army with bolstering detrimental behaviors, making these behaviors seem favorable, or cool, in some way, behaviors like over consumption of alcohol, illicit drug use, or engagement in high-risk activities… I realize I may have just sucked all of the fun out of the room, but I need you to look at this situation objectively, as a commander would look at it.
“Imagine a one percent increase in yearly deaths due to drug overdoses, all coming from our selected demographic, all as a result of ChatBot activity. I realize that one percent isn’t much, but you hardly did anything to achieve it. Imagine tasking a ChatBot Army to spur an increase in Clinical Depression. Imagine doing this in congruence with Drug Use favorability…
“No one is an island, Cadets. We are all influenced by our environment. It is paramount that individuals discern the legitimacy and the intentions of the information they consume.
“And, by-the-way, that one percent is not insignificant. One percent of three-hundred-million, is three million. That is three-million young men who will be incapable of fighting.”
The auditorium was silent.