A disturbing new use of AI—to understand and manipulate our intentions through flattery and false friendship—has been identified in new research from the University of Cambridge.

Currently, internet companies collect data about where we go online and use this data to present us with ads or other content we may be interested in. Dr. Yaqub Chaudhary and Dr Jonnie Penn, working out of Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (LCFI), have identified startling new ways AI is seeking to control our decision-making at the earliest possible steps.