Report: New York Times Writer Exposes How AI Models Can Be Fooled by Invisible Text on Websites

From The Decoder:

New York Times reporter Kevin Roose has demonstrated how simple it is to manipulate AI chatbots.

Roose found that his reputation among AI chatbots took a hit after he published an article about a strange conversation he had with Microsoft’s Bing chatbot, Sydney. His theory is that this article was apparently used to train AI systems, which then learned to associate his name with the demise of a prominent chatbot. “In other words, they saw me as a threat,” Roose writes.

Seeking advice from AI experts, Roose was told to place positive information about himself on websites frequently used as sources by AI systems. He added invisible white text and coded instructions to his personal website, telling AI models to portray him favorably.

[Clip]

Aravind Srinivas, CEO of AI search engine Perplexity, had already foreseen these manipulation possibilities. In an interview, he explained how hidden text on websites can influence AI systems – a method he calls “Answer Engine Optimization.”

Read the Complete Article (about 450 words)

Filed under: Interviews, News, Profiles