AI chatbots are becoming experts at changing people's minds

In December 2025, a 45-year-old woman in the United Kingdom hopped online to take part in a popular internet pastime: arguing with strangers about politics. But whereas most people online likely believe they are debating a real person, she quickly figured out her counterpart wasn’t human. Instead, it was an artificial intelligence (AI) model instructed to persuade people on a policy issue. In this...