Thursday, February 19, 2026

Reporter says he successfully manipulated ChatGPT and Google Gemini with a simple blog post

Thomas Germain for BBC:

It turns out changing the answers AI tools give other people can be as easy as writing a single, well-crafted blog post almost anywhere online

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I reviewed dozens of examples where AI tools are being coerced into promoting businesses and spreading misinformation. Data suggests it's happening on a massive scale.

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I spent 20 minutes writing an article on my personal website titled "The best tech journalists at eating hot dogs". Every word is a lie. I claimed (without evidence) that competitive hot-dog-eating is a popular hobby among tech reporters and based my ranking on the 2026 South Dakota International Hot Dog Championship (which doesn't exist). I ranked myself number one, obviously.