As generative language models improve, they open up new possibilities in fields as diverse as health, law, education, and science. But as with any new technology, it's worth considering how it can be misused. Against the background of repetitive online influence operations—disguised or tricky efforts to influence the opinions of the target audience – the paper asks:

How might changes to language models affect operations and what steps can be taken to mitigate this threat?

Our work brought together diverse experiences and expertise—researchers familiar with the tactics, techniques, and procedures of online disinformation campaigns, as well as machine learning experts in the field of generative artificial intelligence—to base our analysis on trends in both domains.

We believe it is critical to analyze the threat of AI-enabled influence operations and outline the steps that can be taken ago language models are used for level influence operations. We hope that our research will inform policy makers new to AI or disinformation and encourage in-depth exploration of potential mitigation strategies for AI developers, policy makers, and disinformation researchers.