Memes Pose a Threat to the US Financial System: RAND Report

Written by thesociable | Published 2024/08/13
Tech Story Tags: psychological-manipulation | memetic-engineering | meme-warfare | cognitive-biases | rand-corporation-report | financial-market-stability | social-media-influence | hackernoon-top-story

TLDRMemes are a threat to the US financial system, according to a Pentagon-sponsored report from the RAND Corporation. Memes can be weaponized to carryout ā€œmemetic engineering attacksā€ that can ā€œmanipulate beliefs and behaviorsā€ ā€œMemetic engineered attacksā€™ can either hit financial institutions quickly to cause a rapid frenzy over a specific set of stocks, or slowly to degrade confidence in the market.via the TL;DR App

Govts, institutions use the same ā€˜memetic engineeringā€™ tactics they seek to demonize: perspective

Memes are a threat to the US financial system, according to a Pentagon-sponsored report from the RAND Corporation.

The RANDĀ report, ā€œTechnological and Economic Threats to the US Financial System: An Initial Assessment of Growing Risksā€ looked at the potential costs and likelihood of four threats to the US financial system:

  • Attacks on AI-enabled financial trading models
  • Bond dumping by foreign holders of US debt
  • Using deepfakes to spread misinformation
  • Memetic engineering to manipulate beliefs and behaviors

Threats from deepfakes and cyberattacks are well-known, and bond dumping has to do with the fact that ā€œforeign countries hold more than $7 trillion in US bonds, which ā€” if dumped rapidly ā€” could have the potential to roll markets.ā€

But memes are a major concern for US defense and intelligence agencies because they can be weaponized to carry out ā€œmemetic engineering attacksā€ that can ā€œmanipulate beliefs and behaviors.ā€

ā€œAdvanced memetic engineering attacks could progressively undermine trust in financial markets and institutions, causing a steady, incremental impact on market stability rather than a sudden breakdown*ā€œ*

RAND Corporation, Technological and Economic Threats to the US Financial System, July 2024

ā€œMemetic engineering involves designing viral ideas or culture (memes) to achieve a specific psychological or material outcomeā€

RAND Corporation, Technological and Economic Threats to the US Financial System, July 2024

The term ā€œmemetic engineeringā€ is ā€œderivative of genetic engineering, with memes being the cultural equivalent of a biological gene.ā€

According to the report, ā€œMemetic engineering involves the strategic creation or manipulation of ideas, concepts, or beliefs to influence a targeted audience, often relying on psychological triggers or cognitive biases.ā€

ā€œIt is a more targeted attack than a deepfake attack and can be tailored to specific individuals or groups based on their position within social and economic networks.ā€

These so-called ā€œmemetic engineered attacksā€ can either hit financial institutions quickly to cause a rapid frenzy over a specific set of stocks, or slowly to degrade confidence in the market or financial institutions over time.

ā€œThe threat of memetic engineering used to degrade trust in markets, institutions, or regulators is a growing concernā€

RAND Corporation, Technological and Economic Threats to the US Financial System, July 2024

Memes can encapsulate entire narratives in both honest and deceptive ways, sometimes simultaneously.

While memes can be direct, nuanced, or ambiguous, they can also convey truths in subtle ways that can awaken people to new and complex concepts in an easily digestible way.

However, it is the power of memes to shift perspectives and challenge official narratives is what worries defense and intelligence agencies.

As the RAND report observes, ā€œPotent memes can shape what issues people focus on, who they see as part of their in-group, and how they direct their energy and anger.ā€

But canā€™t the same be said about official narratives and stories coming from the media, governments, and corporations?

Do authoritative sources not use memetic engineering (narrative control) tactics for the exact same ends ā€” to shape what issues people focus on and to divide the people along partisan and ideological lines?

ā€œWhen weaponized, memes can tap into human tribalism, emotions, cognitive biases, and identity and potentially manipulate behavior or beliefsā€

RAND Corporation, Technological and Economic Threats to the US Financial System, July 2024

ā€œSeveral experts offered recent events, such as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and the GameStop short squeeze, as evidence that social media is likely to play a role in propagating deepfakes and memetic engineering attacks into the financial sectorā€

RAND Corporation, Technological and Economic Threats to the US Financial System, July 2024

In a financial setting, the RAND report says that there are likely two potential use cases of memetic engineering:

  • A quick strike attack aimed at creating a rapid frenzy over a specific set of stocks
  • A longer-term degradation of beliefs, ideologies, or confidence in the market or financial institutions

The authors conclude that across the board the most significant threat is the longer-term degradation of confidence in institutions.

They liken it to a ā€œfinancial climate changeā€ narrative because the erosion of confidence happens over time.

ā€œThe most significant threat is not an abrupt event, akin to a ā€˜financial 9/11,ā€™ but rather a slow and steady process, akin to ā€˜financial climate change'ā€

RAND Corporation, Technological and Economic Threats to the US Financial System, July 2024

Across the four identified threats, ā€œThe most significant threat is not an abrupt event, akin to a ā€˜financial 9/11,ā€™ but rather a slow and steady process, akin to ā€˜financial climate change.ā€™

ā€œThis phenomenon could occur when disinformation or misinformation diminishes public trust in markets, consequently complicating the distinction between reality and fabrication and thereby escalating market volatility,ā€ the report reads.

For example, ā€œAdvanced memetic engineering attacks could progressively undermine trust in financial markets and institutions, causing a steady, incremental impact on market stability rather than a sudden breakdown.ā€

The RAND authors say that memetic engineering can tap into human tribalism and emotions.

At the same time, these ā€œexpertsā€ equate financial threats with politically, tribally, and emotionally-charged issues like 9/11 andĀ climate change.

They deploy the same memetic engineering tactics they seek to demonize.

The RAND report says that ā€œWhen weaponized, memes can tap into human tribalism, emotions, cognitive biases, and identity and potentially manipulate behavior or beliefs.ā€

Are they not also describing the modus operandi of governments and institutions?

After the financial crisis of 2008, the bank bailouts, the printing of trillions of dollars, the crushing inflation, the manipulation of interest rates, the economic sanctions, the war on cash, the introduction of programmable Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), and the insurmountable debt indicating a potential collapse of the entire financial system as we know it, who wouldnā€™t question the financial institutions and their regulators?

But no, after all of that and more, the government is more worried that memes will undermine trust in financial institutions, rather than the irresponsible actions of those institutions themselves.

Tim Hinchliffe, Editor, The Sociable


Written by thesociable | The Sociable is a technology news publication that picks apart how technology transforms society and vice versa.
Published by HackerNoon on 2024/08/13