Since the dawn of civilisation, every technological revolution has transformed human life. From the wheel to the internet and now artificial intelligence (AI), each new technology has taken us to new heights of progress while creating new risks of misuse. In the 21st century, technology is changing not only how we work but also how we think, believe, feel and behave.
People’s conscience and behaviour were once shaped mainly by family, society, education, culture and their surroundings. Now a large part of that influence has passed to algorithms. The news a person reads, the video they watch or the political message that sticks in their mind is not always the result of their own interest. Behind it may be a distant technology company, an algorithm or a planned, organised campaign.
In today’s world, information is a huge strategic asset. Alongside mineral resources, people’s personal data, habits, fears, beliefs and political ideals have become extremely valuable. Those who can control what information reaches people also gain the chance to influence their conscience, thinking and decisions.
Every day we see countless posts, pictures, videos, news items and comments on social media. Some are true, some completely false and some a mix of truth and lies. Old pictures are often circulated as new events, edited videos are presented as real, or fake statements are attributed to people.
We may think a single post or video cannot do us much harm. But according to the illusion of truth effect in psychology, when information appears before people again and again, they eventually begin to believe it without checking. A false claim that more than 3,000 police were killed in the July uprising also spread on social media, and some people believed it. The problem is that we often do not verify before believing, and share information quickly when it matches our political beliefs.
This is where artificial intelligence has added a new dimension. In seconds, AI can produce text, pictures, videos and voices that are hard to tell from the real thing. Worryingly, AI capabilities are growing so fast that leading AI companies themselves are now asking for regulation.
Many people think AI is completely neutral. But no AI is built from nothing. Its training data, algorithms, safety policies, legal limits and its makers’ decisions all shape its answers. For example, when DeepSeek is asked about the 1989 Tiananmen Square events, or American AIs about human rights violations or allegations of genocide in Gaza, they often limit or avoid their answers. So AI should be used only as an aid to information, not as the final source of truth, or human civilisation will suffer.
At the same time, AI itself is now a powerful tool for creating disinformation. A recent Bangladeshi example comes from a threat intelligence report by the American AI company Anthropic: a person in Gaibandha used 29 Claude accounts and automated systems to create hundreds of rumour headlines, narratives and images and spread them on social media. In other words, with easily available AI and social media, even a single person can now run a large-scale political disinformation campaign.
The problem is not Bangladesh’s alone; it is acute everywhere, from developed to developing countries. The 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal showed how personal data from social media can become a political weapon. By analysing people’s preferences, behaviour and political leanings, separate messages were crafted for different groups, turning political campaigning into individually targeted psychological campaigning.
In Myanmar, hate speech, rumours and disinformation on social media helped stir up public opinion against the Rohingya. In India, rumours and disinformation about Muslims are spreading, and disinformation about Bangladesh is also regularly circulated. In almost every country’s elections, fake accounts, online advertising and organised campaigns are now deepening social divisions.
War is no longer confined to tanks, fighter jets or missiles; people’s minds and consciences have also become battlefields. Since the Gaza war, Israel has been spending large sums on influencers to repair its international image. Information, algorithms, AI and social media are therefore becoming ever more important in information or cognitive warfare.
Here the aim is not always to make people accept a particular view. Sometimes the aim may be to confuse and divide people so much that they trust no institution or other person. In this, religion, especially Islam, is being targeted.
The issue is especially important for Bangladesh. Its strategic importance in the Bay of Bengal and the Asia-Pacific is growing, and it is increasingly bound up with the economic and geopolitical interests of various powers, including India, China and the United States.
At the same time, political polarisation, reliance on social media for information and a weak culture of fact-checking are increasing our risk. Many would agree that some state, state-backed group or other interested party is trying to influence public opinion in Bangladesh. This does not mean a foreign intelligence agency is behind every rumour. But a politically divided society that is weak at verification is more at risk, and technology is making such efforts faster and cheaper.
The spread of rumours and disinformation has become a kind of social epidemic. Old pictures or videos from other countries are circulated as recent events in Bangladesh, fake photocards are produced, and edited videos and out-of-context statements are presented as true. Sadly, many leading media outlets have lately also been spreading misleading photocards and disinformation targeting individuals.
Most worrying is that such information reaches thousands of people instantly without verification. The victims are not only ordinary people; university teachers, journalists, analysts and talk show guests also sometimes share or promote false information without checking it, adding to the confusion.
For example, a fact-check by The Dissent said a false claim had been spread using a picture of a bloodied young woman in connection with the July uprising. Two professors at two public universities in Dhaka later shared that photocard, which the fact-check proved false. This is very worrying: if those who are supposed to guide students and society in thinking do not fulfil the minimum duty of verifying information, it is hard to expect responsible behaviour from ordinary people.
When people start believing information because of their political views without checking the truth, even an educated person can unknowingly spread disinformation. Whatever one’s views or ideology, everyone should be committed to verifying and to the truth.
Rather than fearing technology, Bangladesh now urgently needs to build strong digital resilience against its misuse. Alongside digital literacy, education must teach fact-checking, judging the credibility of sources, checking AI answers and spotting deepfakes. The state must make timely policies, but without threatening freedom of expression. The media must also put accuracy ahead of speed.
Political parties have a responsibility too. Influencing public opinion through disinformation, character assassination, fake videos or by exploiting people’s fears and religious feelings may bring short-term gains, but in the long run it will harm the entire state. But the greatest responsibility lies with each of us. Checking the source, asking questions and confirming the truth rather than believing or sharing information on sight is now not just a matter of awareness but the duty of a responsible citizen.
The fight of the future is therefore not only at the border but also in people’s minds. In the end, it is not technology but our awareness, habit of verification and conscience that will decide what kind of Bangladesh lies ahead.
The writer is a manager (research and development) at Sysmark Limited.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report