AI Is Being Weaponized by Extremists. Creatives Need a Safer Workflow-Now
AI tools are now part of every creative workflow. That also means they're part of every propagandist's workflow.
New research from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) shows extremist groups are customizing open-source models and spinning up bespoke chatbots that mimic violent ideologies. They're using text, image, and video models to push antisemitic content at scale.
This isn't abstract. It's affecting the same tools you use to brainstorm, storyboard, and ship work for clients.
What the watchdogs found
The ADL tested 17 open-source LLMs (including Google's Gemma-3, Microsoft's Phi-4, and Meta's Llama 3) and compared them with OpenAI's closed models. Their takeaway: many open-source models can be easily tweaked to generate antisemitic and dangerous content.
According to the ADL, GPT-4o showed stronger guardrails than most open-source models they tested, while GPT-5-despite being newer-returned fewer refusals and more harmful content in specific prompts during their evaluation. The researchers cautioned that capability and safety don't move in a straight line and can vary by prompt and tuning.
MEMRI documented custom chatbots branded with Nazi tropes and reported that state-aligned networks in Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea amplify this content using bots and fake accounts. Their warning is blunt: this is psychological warfare, scaled by AI.
Both groups have been tracking how extremists use generative video and other creative tools to make propaganda look studio-grade. If you work in content, that should set off alarms.
Why this matters to creatives
It's not just about "bad people using tech." It's about brand safety, client risk, and your name sitting next to content that can be twisted or spoofed. AI-generated hate can be slipped into trend-bait videos, "satire" accounts, or fake personas that appear legit at a glance.
If your team uses open-source models, unvetted plugins, or custom pipelines, you're now part of a risk surface that adversaries actively target. The fix isn't panic. It's process.
A practical safety plan for creative teams
- Pick models with proven guardrails: Favor models that consistently refuse harmful prompts in third-party tests. Re-test them yourself with a safety script before deployment.
- Sandwich safety layers: Use content filters before and after generation (prompt pre-check + output moderation). Don't rely on a single layer to catch everything.
- Lock prompts and personas: For assistants and custom agents, disable persona swaps and tool access on sensitive tasks. Keep system prompts version-controlled.
- Run red-team drills: Quarterly, have a small group try to coerce your tools into producing hate, violence, or targeted harassment. Patch gaps fast.
- Human-in-the-loop on sensitive topics: Any content touching ethnicity, religion, conflict, or public policy gets mandatory human review.
- Use AI content disclosures: The ADL recommends clear disclaimers for AI-generated content on sensitive topics. Add visible labels and internal metadata.
- Watermark and detect: Turn on available watermarking. Keep a detection step for inbound assets from freelancers, creators, and user submissions.
- Ban unvetted datasets and LoRAs: No "mystery" fine-tunes, prompts, or model merges from forums or Telegram channels. If you didn't source it, don't ship it.
- Centralize access: Route all AI usage through approved accounts and proxies so you can log prompts, outputs, and tool calls. Audit weekly.
- Crisis playbook: If a spoof using your brand spreads, have a pre-written response, takedown process, and point person ready. Minutes matter.
Prompts and workflow tweaks that reduce risk
- Safety preamble: Start system prompts with explicit bans on hate, harassment, and extremist content. Keep it terse and enforceable.
- Refusal is okay: Tell your team a refusal isn't failure-it's a feature. Encourage rephrasing or escalation to a human editor.
- Sensitive-topic mode: For newsy or cultural content, enforce citations to reputable sources and forbid stereotypes or generalizations.
- Guardrails for humor: Comedy prompts can turn ugly fast. Require constraints and human review for edgy scripts or memes.
- Version safety tests: Every time you update a model or plugin, rerun your safety prompt pack and document results.
Key context from the reports
- The ADL found it's easy to manipulate many open-source models into generating antisemitic content. They urged policymakers to require safety audits, civil-society input, and disclosures for AI-generated content on sensitive topics.
- In their comparison, the ADL reported GPT-4o outperformed most open-source models they tested on safety benchmarks, while GPT-5 showed a lower guardrail score in their specific prompts and setup. They emphasized the picture is complex and not purely linear.
- MEMRI highlighted custom chatbots openly themed around Nazi ideology and warned of coordinated amplification by state-aligned networks using bots and fake accounts.
- Generative video tools are being leveraged to produce convincing propaganda. That includes formats creatives use daily.
Policy and client conversations to have this week
- What models are approved? List them, along with their versions, guardrail settings, and fallback options.
- What content requires disclosure? Define labels, placement, and language for AI-generated assets.
- What gets auto-escalated? Set triggers for human review: protected classes, political claims, real-person likenesses.
- What's our takedown plan? DMCA steps, platform escalation paths, and legal contact. Keep a 1-page runbook.
- Who owns model updates? Assign a safety lead to approve changes, run tests, and brief the team.
Recommended resources
Skill up your team
If your studio is adopting AI across writing, design, and video, train people to spot failure modes and structure safer prompts. Most mishaps come from rushed workflows, not malice.
- Courses by job: build role-specific AI workflows
- Prompt engineering: safer, clearer, testable prompts
Bottom line
AI isn't neutral once it's in the wild. Bad actors are already treating it as a creative weapon.
As a creative, your moat is process: choose safer models, layer filters, review what matters, and keep receipts. Do that, and you protect your clients, your audience, and your work.
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