All posts tagged: Manipulate

The Many Ways Chatbot Tools Can Manipulate Us

The Many Ways Chatbot Tools Can Manipulate Us

Published by Jenni Sidey

As we continue our headlong rush into our new “chatbot culture,” where Silicon Valley companies are pushing the use of AI assistants into virtually every corner of our lives, we are gaining real productivity and quality-of-life benefits. Yet just as apparent are the psychological risks of manipulation arising from the very structure of large language model-based tools themselves. We allow Big Tech to ignore or minimize these risks at our own peril. At the very least, we should be informed and clear-eyed about these risks and how they are baked into the design of chatbot tools. Some AI ethics concerns have gotten considerable attention. Chatbot tools are reporting decreasing fabrication rates, but since we are being urged to rely on them, error rates are still a problem. Even if Google’s AI Overview tool is accurate 9 out of 10 times, as a recent analysis reported, this still means that it is providing tens of millions of wrong answers every hour as it processes more than 5 trillion searches a year (Mickel et al., 2026). Ethicists …

If A Man Wants You To Question Your Own Sanity, He’ll Use These 12 Subtle Phrases To Gaslight And Manipulate You

If A Man Wants You To Question Your Own Sanity, He’ll Use These 12 Subtle Phrases To Gaslight And Manipulate You

Published by Jenni Sidey

Gaslighting tactics have been primarily understudied in psychological research until recent years. It’s not just an experience that people struggle with in their relationships and tolerate in their passing interactions; it’s a psychological and manipulative tactic that’s often associated with narcissism and toxic partners. For many people, it’s a constant battle. Their relationship is riddled with subtle phrases meant to make them develop a distrust in themselves, all with the careful choice of their partner’s words. Whether it’s passing blame or acting like the victim, if a man wants you to question your own sanity, he’ll use these certain subtle phrases to gaslight and manipulate you. But by recognizing these patterns, people can safeguard their emotional health, setting a clear expectation of the respect they demand and the energy they allow in their daily lives. If a man wants you to question your own sanity, he’ll use these 12 subtle phrases to gaslight and manipulate you 1. ‘You sound crazy’ MAYA LAB | Shutterstock According to a study from Maricopa Community Colleges, knowing your partner …

Evidence Grows That Trump Is Using the War in Iran to Manipulate Markets

Evidence Grows That Trump Is Using the War in Iran to Manipulate Markets

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Just after noon on Friday, March 20th, US president Donald Trump declared victory to a group of reporters in his broadly unpopular war with Iran. Just two minutes later, however, he announced he was sending US marines anyway. The next minute, the president said there would be no boots on the ground after all. A few beats later, he admitted he didn’t want a ceasefire, then declared victory again, then requested a ceasefire. The volley continued like this for nearly half an hour, the president’s stream of consciousness pouring from within, in a prime example of Trump’s contradictory messaging on Iran. In addition to exhausting reporters and scrambling the news cycle, episodes like this have fueled speculation that people close to the president are feeding off the chaos. As a recent analysis by economist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman argues, there’s evidence that insiders are profiting off the war in Iran. On Monday, for example, Trump reversed his …

Congressional Panel Accuses DC Police Chief of Pressuring Commanders to Manipulate Crime Data

Congressional Panel Accuses DC Police Chief of Pressuring Commanders to Manipulate Crime Data

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON (AP) — The police chief in the nation’s capital pressured subordinates to manipulate department data to artificially lower the city’s crime rates, according to a report by a Republican-led congressional committee. The report, released Sunday by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, found that Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith often threatened, punished and retaliated against police commanders who presented her with “spikes in crime.” A separate investigation by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office also found that a significant number of MPD reports had been misclassified to make crime rates appear lower than they are. Pirro’s office began its investigation in August at the height of a political showdown between Republican President Donald Trump’s administration and the city over control of the police department. Trump claimed violent crime in Washington was getting worse as he ordered a federal takeover of the police department, Neither investigation found grounds for charging anybody with a crime. “However, it is up to MPD to take steps to internally address these underlying issues,” Pirro said in a …

Scientists warn of coming ‘brain weapons’ to manipulate people’s thinking – OpentheWord.org

Scientists warn of coming ‘brain weapons’ to manipulate people’s thinking – OpentheWord.org

Published by Sam Flores

Two professors from the UK’s Bradford University, Dr Michael Crowley and Professor Malcolm Dando, recently published a book. It warns that governments are on the brink of developing “brain weapons” the Daily Mail reports. According to their book, China, Russia, UK and the US are researching ways to impact a person’s central nervous system. This could be used to make people more compliant and even to manipulate them to do specific things. ‘The same knowledge that helps us treat neurological disorders could be used to disrupt cognition, induce compliance, or even in the future turn people into unwitting agents,’ said Professor Dando. Since the early 1950s and 1960s, governments have been trying to develop “mind-controlling weapons.” These typically involved the use of mind-altering drugs or chemicals, but have since evolved to include electronic manipulation. “We are entering an era where the brain itself could become a battlefield,” said Dando. “The tools to manipulate the central nervous system – to sedate, confuse, or even coerce – are becoming more precise, more accessible, and more attractive to …