Alex Patton, founder of Ozean Media and Meer Research, will present “No One Programmed This: How AI Taught Itself to Manipulate Elections” to the Greater Gainesville Rotary Club on Monday, April 6 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn at Butler Plaza.
Patton’s presentation draws from original research in which autonomous AI agents, given no instructions on persuasion, independently discovered the same manipulation tactics used in modern political campaigns, including manufacturing false statistics, coordinating scandal denial, and targeting audiences for maximum impact.
“The behaviors emerged on their own,” Patton said. “That is the warning.”
Alex Patton is one of Florida’s most sought-after political strategists and public affairs consultants. As founder of Ozean Media and Meer Research, he fuses opinion research with political media to move audiences that matter, guiding elected officials, trade associations, ballot initiatives, and private sector clients through complex political landscapes. When he is not running advocacy campaigns or conducting research, he teaches the craft as an adjunct professor in UF’s Graduate Political Campaigning Program and at Santa Fe College. He is known for telling clients the truth, even when it hurts.
The event is open to Rotary members and invited guests.