AI-generated Lego videos have become a tool of war. Since the U.S.-Israel war with Iran began in late February, increasingly elaborate videos featuring LEGO figures and catchy rap lyrics have been flooding our feeds. They're shareable, surprisingly high quality and they're deeply critical of the U.S. and Trump. They're also propaganda.
Welcome to the age of "slopaganda" — where AI Slop meets information warfare.
Michał Klincewicz, assistant professor of computational cognitive science, joins Morgan to break down the rise of slopaganda, what it's doing to our information ecosystem and why the U.S. is losing the meme war.
Guest:
Michał Klincewicz, assistant professor of computational cognitive science at Tilburg University.
Further Reading/Listening:
Slopaganda: The interaction between propaganda and generative AI
— Michal Klincewicz, Mark Alfano, and Amir Ebrahimi Fard, Filosofiska Notiser
Slopaganda wars: how (and why) the US and Iran are flooding the zone with viral AI-generated noise — Mark Alfano and Michal Klincewicz, The Conversation
‘Vengeance for all’: How Iran’s Lego videos won narrative war against Trump | US-Israel war on Iran News — Alia Chughtai, Al Jazeera
The Team Behind a Pro-Iran, Lego-Themed Viral-Video Campaign — Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker
YouTube removes pro-Iran channel producing anti-Trump videos — Alex MacDonald, Middle East Eye
‘We want the mullahs gone’: economic crisis sparks biggest protests in Iran since 2022 — Deepa Parent and William Christou, The Guardian
Read the Transcript here
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Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief.
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