OpenAI, the US company that created ChatGPT, has banned accounts in the Philippines that were used to make a large number of social media comments favoring President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and criticizing Vice President Sara Duterte.
OpenAI dubbed the campaign “Operation High Five” because of the large number of emojis and positive tone of the comments. They often praised Marcos’ projects or criticized Sara Duterte. ChatGPT was used to analyze social media posts and generate short comments of up to 10 words.
AI was also used to create PR pitches and statistical analysis for the operation. Five TikTok channels were allegedly created to promote Marcos' agenda. Dozens of TikTok accounts, with almost no followers, posted AI-generated comments to make the channels appear popular.
On Facebook, most accounts are newly created, have 0–15 friends, and most comments have no likes or shares. OpenAI said that even if the intention was to bombard comment sections, the result was only “partially successful.” For example, several hundred comments were made on a post with 23,000 comments.
In summary, OpenAI has been vigilant about the misuse of AI for politics in the Philippines and has shown the limitations of such operations.
