Malicious AI swarms pose emergent threats to democracy

Summary author: Walter Beckwith

2026-01-22

(Press-News.org) In a Policy Forum, Daniel Schroeder and colleagues discuss the risks of malicious “Artificial Intelligence (AI) swarms”, which enable a new class of large-scale, coordinated disinformation campaigns that pose significant risks to democracy. Manipulation of public opinion has long relied on rhetoric and propaganda. However, modern AI systems have created powerful new tools for shaping human beliefs and behavior on a societal scale. Large language models (LLMs) and autonomous agents can now generate vast amounts of persuasive, human-like content. When combined into collaborative AI Swarms – collections of AI-driven personas that retain memory and identity – these systems can mimic social dynamics and easily infiltrate online communities, making false narratives appear credible and widely shared. According to the authors, unlike earlier labor-intensive influence operations run by humans, AI systems can operate cheaply, consistently, and at tremendous scale, transforming once isolated disinformation efforts into persistent, adaptive campaigns that pose serious risks to democratic processes worldwide. Here, Schroeder et al. discuss the technology underpinning these malicious systems and identify pathways through which they can harm democratic discourse through widely used digital platforms. The authors argue that defense against these systems must be layered and pragmatic, aiming not for total prevention of their use, which is highly unlikely, but for raising the cost, risk, and visibility of manipulation. Because such efforts would require global coordination outside of corporate and governmental interests, Schroeder et al. propose a distributed “AI Influence Observatory,” consisting of a network of academic groups, nongovernmental organizations, and other civil institutions to guide independent oversight and action. “Success depends on fostering collaborative action without hindering scientific research while ensuring that the public sphere remains both resilient and accountable,” write the authors. “By committing now to rigorous measurement, proportionate safeguards, and shared oversight, upcoming elections could even become a proving ground for, rather than a setback to, democratic AI governance.”

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Progenitor cells in the brain constantly attempt to produce new myelin-producing brain cells

2026-01-22

**EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL THURSDAY, JAN. 22, AT 2 P.M. ET** In experiments with mice, Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists report new evidence that precursors of myelin-producing cells — one of the few brain cell types that continue to be produced in the adult brain — undergo differentiation widely and at a constant pace, rather than “as needed” in response to injury or advancing age. The findings, say the scientists, suggest that treatments to combat myelin-damaging diseases such as multiple sclerosis may benefit from maximizing this intrinsic potential. The new study, funded by the National Institutes of Health ...

Quantum measurements with entangled atomic clouds

2026-01-22

Researchers at the University of Basel and the Laboratoire Kastler Brossel have demonstrated how quantum mechanical entanglement can be used to measure several physical parameters simultaneously with greater precision. Entanglement is probably the most puzzling phenomenon observed in quantum systems. It causes measurements on two quantum objects, even if they are at different locations, to exhibit statistical correlations that should not exist according to classical physics – it’s almost as if a measurement on one object influences the other one at a distance. The experimental demonstration of this effect, also known as the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen ...

Mayo Clinic researchers use AI to predict patient falls based on core density in middle age

2026-01-22

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Artificial intelligence (AI) applied to abdominal imaging can help predict adults at higher risk of falling as early as middle age, a new Mayo Clinic study shows. The research, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, highlights the importance of abdominal muscle quality, a component of core strength, as a key predictor of fall risk in adults aged 45 years and older. Falls are a leading cause of injury, especially among older adults. Mayo Clinic researchers found that early markers of ...

Moffitt study develops new tool to predict how cancer evolves

2026-01-22

Key Highlights Researchers developed a new method to predict how cancer cells evolve by gaining or losing whole chromosomes. Chromosome changes create rapid shifts that help tumors grow, adapt and resist treatment. The new tool, called ALFA-K, maps how favorable or harmful chromosome changes are in different cancer cells. The study quantifies how whole-genome doubling helps cancer cells survive high levels of chromosomal instability. Findings lay the groundwork for evolution-aware approaches to cancer ...

National Multiple Sclerosis Society awards Dr. Manuel A. Friese the 2025 Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research

2026-01-22

Manuel A. Friese, MD, clinician-scientist at the Institute of Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany was awarded the 2025 Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research. He is being recognized for his groundbreaking work studying the interactions between inflammation and nerve cell death (also called neurodegeneration) that drive disease progression. His work has the potential to identify new therapeutic targets for MS. It also brings the field closer to stopping disease progression, ...

PBM profits obscured by mergers and accounting practices, USC Schaeffer white paper shows

2026-01-22

Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) under the microscope for their role in high drug prices have often cited their reportedly slim profit margins as evidence that they do not drive up costs. The three leading PBMs, which control about 80% of the prescription drug market, have historically reported profit margins of 4% to 7%, among the lowest in the healthcare industry. A new white paper from the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics demonstrates that these slim margins are dramatically influenced by the accounting practices PBMs elect to employ. The paper also shows how efforts to assess PBM profits have become more challenging ...

Breath carries clues to gut microbiome health

2026-01-22

The human gut is home to trillions of beneficial microbes that play a crucial role in health. Disruptions in this delicate community of bacteria and viruses — called the gut microbiome — have been linked to obesity, asthma and cancer, among other illnesses. Yet quick diagnostic tools to identify issues within the microbiome that could be addressed to treat these conditions are lacking. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have shown that disease-associated bacteria in the gut can be detected through exhaled breath. They found that chemicals ...

New study links altered cellular states to brain structure

2026-01-22

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have characterized how cellular senescence—a biological process in which aging cells change how they function—is associated with human brain structure in both development and late life. The study, published January 22 in Cell, provides new insight into how molecular signatures of cellular senescence that are present during development and aging mirror those associated with brain volume and cortical organization. Understanding brain structure is a central challenge in neuroscience. Although brain structure changes throughout life and is linked to both aging and neurodegenerative conditions ...

Palaeontology: Ancient giant kangaroos could hop to it when they needed to

2026-01-22

Giant ancestors of modern-day kangaroos — which previous research has estimated could weigh up to 250 kilograms — may have been able to hop in short bursts, according to research published in Scientific Reports. These findings challenge those of previous studies suggesting that giant kangaroos weighing more than 160 kilograms were too heavy for their ankles to withstand hopping. Megan Jones and colleagues studied the hindlimbs of 94 modern and 40 fossil specimens from 63 kangaroo and wallaby species — including members of the extinct giant kangaroo group Protemnodon, which lived during the Pleistocene (between 2.6 million and 11,700 ...

Decoded: How cancer cells protect themselves from the immune system

2026-01-22

Could this mark a shift in how we think about cancer therapy? At least in the laboratory, evidence suggests it may be. An international research team has succeeded in deciphering a key mechanism that controls the growth of pancreatic cancers. The scientists identified a potential central mechanism by which cancer cells protect themselves from attack by the body's own immune system. Blocking this mechanism resulted in a dramatic reduction in tumours in laboratory animals. A look at the central driver of cell division The results of the study have now been published in Cell. The research was primarily carried out by Leonie Uhl, Amel Aziba and ...

Modular assembly of chiral nitrogen-bridged rings achieved by palladium-catalyzed diastereoselective and enantioselective cascade cyclization reactions

Sally C. Morton, executive vice president of ASU Knowledge Enterprise, presents a bold and practical framework for moving research from discovery to real-world impact

Biochemical parameters in patients with diabetic nephropathy versus individuals with diabetes alone, non-diabetic nephropathy, and healthy controls

Muscular strength and mortality in women ages 63 to 99

[Press-News.org] Malicious AI swarms pose emergent threats to democracy
Summary author: Walter Beckwith

Malicious AI swarms pose emergent threats to democracy

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: