Artificial intelligence is dramatically changing the way propaganda is produced and disseminated, turning social media into a space where manipulative content is almost impossible to avoid. According to Axios, AI tools have made propaganda faster, cheaper and far more scalable than ever before, thus changing the very nature of information warfare.
Unlike traditional propaganda campaigns that required significant resources and time, today it is possible to generate hundreds or thousands of content, from images and videos to memes and texts, almost instantly. The result is an information environment in which the line between authentic and artificially generated content is increasingly blurred.
The essence of the change lies in the economy of attention. As analysts point out, the most important currency of today’s Internet is no longer information, but the attention of users. AI enables the production of content that is visually striking, easy to understand and designed to go viral quickly.
This type of content often uses simplified messages and recognizable visual styles to reach an audience that does not normally follow political or social issues. In other words, propaganda is no longer limited to informed users – it targets everyone.
From propaganda to “slopaganda”
In this context, the term Slopaganda is increasingly used, which describes a new type of propaganda generated with the help of AI.
Unlike classical propaganda, which was relatively limited in scope, slopaganda operates through three key characteristics: mass, speed, and personalization.
This means that the content can be adapted to specific groups of users, their interests and already existing beliefs, thus becoming significantly more effective in shaping attitudes and emotions.
The most concrete examples come from contemporary conflicts and political campaigns. During the conflict between Iran and Israel, social media was flooded with AI-generated content, from fake footage of the destruction to viral animations and memes that shaped global perceptions of the conflict.
In parallel, political campaigns around the world are increasingly using AI to create ads, analyze audiences and produce content that can quickly react to current events.
This combination of speed and scalability means that propaganda is no longer a centralized activity – it becomes decentralized, constant and almost invisible in the mass of content.
Why this is a problem: Erosion of trust
The biggest risk is not just the spread of inaccurate information, but the erosion of trust in information in general. When users can no longer reliably distinguish real content from generated content, a broader phenomenon occurs – the loss of shared reality.
An additional problem is that AI propaganda does not necessarily have to be completely false to be effective. It often relies on emotional influence, suggestion and contextual manipulation, rather than outright falsehoods.
War for narrative
What is happening today can be seen as a transition from classic information warfare to a new phase – a war for attention and perception.
States, political organizations, and individuals now have access to tools that were previously reserved for large media systems. The result is a hyperproduction of content where quality becomes less important than speed and virality.
If propaganda used to be a campaign, today it is a constant stream of content. And in that process, the biggest challenge is no longer to find the information – but to determine whether it is even real, reports Axios.