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Incident 565: AI-Generated Imagery and Multilingual Disinformation in Chinese Campaign Regarding Maui Wildfires

Description: In a disinformation campaign concerning wildfires across Maui, Chinese operatives utilized AI-generated imagery to enhance the credibility of false narratives. These narratives claimed that the wildfires were the result of a secret "weather weapon" being tested by the United States. Researchers from Microsoft and other organizations identified these AI-generated images as a significant new tactic in influence operations.

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Alleged: unknown developed an AI system deployed by Chinese government, which harmed Hawaiian government , General public and American government.

Incident Stats

Incident ID
565
Report Count
4
Incident Date
2023-08-08
Editors
Applied Taxonomies
MIT

MIT Taxonomy Classifications

Machine-Classified
Taxonomy Details

Risk Subdomain

A further 23 subdomains create an accessible and understandable classification of hazards and harms associated with AI
 

4.1. Disinformation, surveillance, and influence at scale

Risk Domain

The Domain Taxonomy of AI Risks classifies risks into seven AI risk domains: (1) Discrimination & toxicity, (2) Privacy & security, (3) Misinformation, (4) Malicious actors & misuse, (5) Human-computer interaction, (6) Socioeconomic & environmental harms, and (7) AI system safety, failures & limitations.
 
  1. Malicious Actors & Misuse

Entity

Which, if any, entity is presented as the main cause of the risk
 

Human

Timing

The stage in the AI lifecycle at which the risk is presented as occurring
 

Post-deployment

Intent

Whether the risk is presented as occurring as an expected or unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
 

Intentional

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

Incident OccurrenceChina Sows Disinformation About Hawaii Fires Using New Techniques+2
Chinese Disinfo Blames Maui Fires on Deadly US 'Weather Weapon'
China Sows Disinformation About Hawaii Fires Using New Techniques

China Sows Disinformation About Hawaii Fires Using New Techniques

nytimes.com

Chinese Disinfo Blames Maui Fires on Deadly US 'Weather Weapon'

Chinese Disinfo Blames Maui Fires on Deadly US 'Weather Weapon'

gizmodo.com

Researchers: Disinformation campaign spread after wildfires slowed disaster response

Researchers: Disinformation campaign spread after wildfires slowed disaster response

hawaiinewsnow.com

Mistrust on cause of Maui fire fueled by Chinese disinformation

Mistrust on cause of Maui fire fueled by Chinese disinformation

hawaiitribune-herald.com

China Sows Disinformation About Hawaii Fires Using New Techniques
nytimes.com · 2023

When wildfires swept across Maui last month with destructive fury, China’s increasingly resourceful information warriors pounced.

The disaster was not natural, they said in a flurry of false posts that spread across the internet, but was th…

Chinese Disinfo Blames Maui Fires on Deadly US 'Weather Weapon'
gizmodo.com · 2023

Researchers say they’ve discovered 85 social media accounts and blogs originating from China and working in tandem to amplify a conspiracy theory claiming the deadly fires in Maui were caused by a secretive “weather weapon” unleashed by the…

Researchers: Disinformation campaign spread after wildfires slowed disaster response
hawaiinewsnow.com · 2023

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A disinformation campaign that sprung up almost immediately after wildfires ravaged Maui was spread by China and Russia, researchers have concluded.

And, they say, that campaign made the government’s response to t…

Mistrust on cause of Maui fire fueled by Chinese disinformation
hawaiitribune-herald.com · 2023

Mistrust on cause of Maui fire fueled by Chinese disinformation

Erika Pless, with a mask to filter out dust, looks towards a field near the alleged origin of the West Maui Wildfire, in Lahaina on the island of Maui, Hawaii, Wednesday, Aug. …

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.

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