AI is a worryingly-good persuader—but real-world influence is harder, argues Oxford researcher
_FelixSimon_ · x · 2026-09-02
Oxford researcher Felix M. Simon writes in Transformer that while the latest AI models are remarkably persuasive—recent preprints show chatbots can out-argue seasoned campaigners at getting people to part with money, at least in experiments—turning that ability into meaningful real-world influence is much harder. He distinguishes persuasion (giving inspectable, rejectable reasons) from manipulation, notes the two are easily conflated, and argues that fears of AI nudging masses are premature even as platforms and governments eye the technology for counter-conspiracy efforts.
More from AGI Musings
- Tester Claims Fable 5.1 Excels at Long-Horizon Tasks, Finance and Consulting 'Wiped Out' — felpix_ · 2026-09-02
- Raphael Millière argues intentional stance usefully describes AI agents without anthropomorphism — sebkrier · 2026-09-02
- One LLM already runs at 14,000 tokens/sec—frontier intelligence at 5,000 tok/s within 5 years? — dolo937 · 2026-09-02
- What If Frontier Labs Stop Releasing Models and Keep 'Oracle' AI In-House? Reddit Debates — IDefendWaffles · 2026-09-02
- The Cognitive Revolution: we externalized our muscles, now we're externalizing our minds — Konstantine · 2026-09-02
- AI hallucinations flood Australian parliament inquiries with fake research — nordicinst · 2026-09-02