Swarms of AI bots can sway people's beliefs, threatening democracy

Researchers simulated coordinated AI bot swarms and found that simple infiltration, blending into a community and faking consensus, was the most effective tactic for shifting human beliefs, with even debunked claims sticking once a synthetic chorus made them sound mainstream. Democracy's new nemesis isn't a single supercomputer; it's a thousand polite accounts agreeing with each other in your mentions.