However researchers I’ve spoken with over the previous few months say the 2024 US presidential election would be the first with widespread use of micro-influencers who don’t usually publish about politics and have constructed small, particular, extremely engaged audiences, usually composed primarily of 1 specific demographic. In Wisconsin, for instance, such a micro-influencer marketing campaign might have contributed to file voter turnout for the state supreme courtroom election final yr. This technique permits campaigns to plug into a particular group of individuals by way of a messenger they already belief. Along with posting for money, influencers additionally assist campaigns perceive their viewers and platforms. 

This new messaging technique appears to function in a little bit of a authorized grey space. At present, there aren’t clear guidelines on how influencers have to disclose paid posts and oblique promotional materials (like, say, if an influencer posts about going to a marketing campaign occasion however the publish itself isn’t sponsored). The Federal Election Fee has drafted steering, which a number of teams have urged it to undertake. 

Whereas many of the sources I’ve spoken with have talked concerning the development of this development within the US, it’s additionally taking place in different international locations. Wired wrote an incredible story again in November concerning the impression of influencers on India’s election. 

Digital censorship

Crackdowns on speech by political actors are in fact not new, however this exercise is on the rise, and its elevated precision and frequency is a results of technology-enabled surveillance, on-line focusing on, and state management of on-line domains. The newest web freedom report from Freedom Home confirmed that generative AI is now aiding censorship, and authoritarian governments are rising their management of web infrastructure. Blackouts too are on the rise. 

In only one instance, latest reporting by the Monetary Occasions reveals that the present Turkish authorities is tightening web censorship forward of elections in March by directing web service suppliers to restrict entry to non-public networks.

Extra broadly, digital censorship goes to be a essential human rights challenge and a core weapon within the wars of the longer term. Take, for instance, Iran’s excessive censorship throughout protests in 2022, or the ongoing partial web blackout in Ethiopia. 

I’d urge you to maintain a detailed eye on these three technological forces all through the brand new yr, and I’ll be doing the identical—albeit from afar! 

On a private be aware, that is my final Technocrat at MIT Expertise Assessment, as I’ll be leaving to pursue alternatives exterior of journalism. I’ve cherished having a house in your inboxes over the previous yr and am humbled by the belief you’ve given me to cowl tales of immense significance, like how police are surveilling Black Lives Matter protesters, the methods expertise is altering magnificence requirements for younger women, and why authorities expertise is so laborious to get proper. 

Tales about how expertise is altering our international locations and our communities have by no means been extra essential, so please maintain studying my colleagues at MIT Expertise Assessment, who will proceed to cowl these matters with experience, stability, and rigor. I’d additionally encourage you to join our different newsletters: The Algorithm on AI, The Spark on local weather, The Checkup on biotech, and China Report on all issues tech and China. 

What I’m studying this week

• OpenAI has eliminated its ban on navy use of its AI instruments, in keeping with this nice report by Hayden Subject in CNBC. The transfer comes as the corporate begins work with the Division of Protection on AI. 
• Most of the world’s greatest and brightest are in Davos this week on the World Financial Discussion board, and Cat Zakrzewski says the speak of the city is AI security. I actually loved her insider look in The Washington Submit on the tech coverage issues which can be high of thoughts. 
• Researchers from Indiana College Bloomington have discovered that OpenAI and different massive language fashions energy some malicious web sites and companies, corresponding to instruments that generate malware and phishing emails. I discovered this write-up from Prithvi Iyer in Tech Coverage Press actually insightful!

What I discovered this week

Google’s DeepMind has created an AI system that is superb at geometry, a traditionally laborious subject for synthetic intelligence. My colleague June Kim wrote that the brand new system, referred to as AlphaGeometry, “combines a language mannequin with a sort of AI referred to as a symbolic engine, which makes use of symbols and logical guidelines to make deductions.” She says the system is “a major step towards machines with extra human-like reasoning abilities.”