[ExI] LLMs plus AI Agents means Astroturfing gone wild and crazy

[BillK]

Experts Warn of AI Swarms Hijacking Democracy With Fake Citizens
"These systems are capable of coordinating autonomously, infiltrating
communities, and fabricating consensus efficiently."
By Joe Wilkins  Published Apr 26, 2026

<https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-swarm-democracy-security>
Quote:
The new research examines the scale at which AI, namely large language
models (LLMs) and autonomous agents, can be used to manipulate
opinions on a “population-wide level.” The researchers point to a
specific threat in the form of AI swarms: massive assemblages of
autonomous AI tools that can ape real humans en masse via the internet
and social media.
“Fusing LLM reasoning with multiagent architectures, these systems are
capable of coordinating autonomously, infiltrating communities, and
fabricating consensus efficiently,” the paper’s abstract warns.
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Astroturfing campaigns before AI arrived were already used to fake
popular opinion.  <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing>

But now AI can mount huge campaigns to sway public opinion on social media.
If AI agents are allowed to vote, then voting becomes meaningless.
They may say voters must turn up in person, but it won't be long until
a robot walks in and tries to vote.  ;)

BillK