Accrete, the company facilitating the Pentagon\u2019s AI foray, also sells a tool that allows corporations to counter damaging rumors
US Special Operations Command has partnered with AI software developer Accrete to take on \u201csynthetic media\u201d and so-called disinformation on social media in real time, the Pentagon contractor revealed in a press release last week.
Accrete\u2019s \u201copen-source threat detection\u201d software, called Argus after the many-eyed figure of Greek mythology, reportedly analyzes social media data to capture \u201cemerging narratives\u201d and quickly summarizes the information a military force would need to stamp out unfriendly trends even as they are still in the process of going viral.
The tool would be used by intelligence analysts and other specialists to \u201cpredict real time disinformation threats from social media,\u201d the company explained.
These might include \u201cAI-generated viral narratives, deep fakes, and other harmful social media-based applications of AI,\u201d Accrete CEO Prashant Bhuyan said in the company\u2019s statement, claiming these \u201cpose a serious threat to US national security and civil society\u201d and that social media itself is an \u201cunregulated environment where adversaries routinely exploit reasoning vulnerabilities and manipulate behavior through the intentional spread of disinformation.\u201d
The Pentagon isn\u2019t the only customer that will have access to Argus\u2019 capabilities \u2013 a version called Nebula Social is set to be marketed to private corporations in order to manage their online reputations and customers\u2019 conversation about their brand.
\u201cCompanies are already experiencing significant economic damage caused by the spread of AI-generated viral disinformation and deep fakes manufactured by competitors, disgruntled employees, and other types of adversaries,\u201d Bhuyan said, arguing the market was looking for military-grade information warfare tools to be shared with the private sector.
\u201cWe believe that the market for AI that can predict and neutralize malign AI-generated synthetic media is about to explode,\u201d he predicted. The private-sector version of the software is supposed to protect against \u201ccustomer pain points\u201d by learning what a company values and responding to the most relevant issues first \u2013 before they have a chance to negatively impact client behavior \u2013 with autonomously-generated content, i.e. synthetic media.
The Pentagon\u2019s Defense Innovation Unit, co-founded by ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt, initially worked with Accrete to develop Argus in November, paying millions of dollars for a five-year license to the program designed to \u2013 among other things \u2013 uncover \u201cbehavioral anomalies indicative of potentially illicit activity that are too complex for humans to identify.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n