This pearl clutching is ridiculous.
The harm caused by this is not even at the level of harm regular advertising causes on a daily basis.
We blast people with ads for "food" that we know causes obesity and diabetes. As others have mentioned, the horse had well and truly bolted on psyops on internet boards. All this does is bring it into the open.
Gathering in a public forum and having the notion that those one is interacting with are genuine is a completely ridiculous notion. There was no ethics violation whatsoever. Frankly this is one of the most constructive cautionary tales of the 21st century about the human condition.<p>My contention is that humans are experts at creating tools they are unable to control and/or incapable of using exclusively constructively. This is a damning case study and wonderful for progress in social science. Just modify this “AI” entity into another “human being at a protest or rally or social forum” and suddenly the ethics dispute hold much, much less weight. HUMAN BEINGS LIE ALL THE TIME.<p>Not everyone who claims to be a victim actually is one. Not everyone who human who advocates violent uprisings does so because they truly want to engage in such behavior. The current President of the US is a consistent liar, easily proven with evidence such as Sharpie marker on a hurricane map (Question: “Who added that?” Response: “I don’t know”) and yet look at the outcome.<p>Humans are absolutely in a hell of their own making and clutching pearls about this experiment is a clear reminder that many people have erroneous and laughable understandings of human nature. They choose to live in an idealized bubble. It’s much easier than admitting the flaws and cruelty and savagery not “civilized out” but superficially cloaked in modern times.<p>Great work and I’d love to read the actual paper one day.