These social media post do not appear terribly persuasive, nor does their origin as Chinese propaganda seem very well-disguised, but Microsoft’s point was that artificial intelligence generated the post with minimal human intervention and is learning from its mistakes, building a more formidable propaganda operation as it moves forward. Researchers noted the Chinese influence networks are getting better at responding to human interaction.

A Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that the China-linked accounts “attempted to appear American by listing their public location as within the United States, posting American political slogans, and sharing hashtags relating to domestic political issues.”

Microsoft’s threat report made some other general observations about Chinese cyber activity, including “the South China Sea, the U.S. defense industrial base, and U.S. critical infrastructure” as the top three subjects of Chinese hacking activity in 2023.