From Botnets to AI Swarms: Tracking Emerging Risks Through an AI Influence Observatory
Date:
EU DisinfoLab webinar on AI-enabled disinformation risks and the proposal for an AI Influence Observatory.
Topic
The webinar discussed how large language models and AI agents could add a new layer of risk to the information environment. It focused on emerging threat models including persistent AI personas, AI-supported botnets, cyborg propaganda through verified human accounts, adaptive engagement testing, and campaigns designed to manufacture synthetic public consensus.
The session also covered possible responses: operational taxonomies, curated repositories of cases, simulation environments for studying swarm behavior, behavioral and coordination-based detection signals, prototype AI Shields, and the AI Influence Observatory as infrastructure for making these risks more visible and democratically accountable.
Event
- Date: June 18, 2026
- Format: Webinar
- Speaker: Daniel Thilo Schroeder, Researcher at SINTEF
- Moderator: Raquel Miguel Serrano, Senior Researcher at EU DisinfoLab