Social media platforms enable largely unrestricted many-to-many communication. In times of crisis, they offer a space for collective sense-making and gave rise to new social phenomena (e.g. open-source investigations). However, they also serve as a tool for threat actors to conduct cyber-enabled social influence operations (CeSIOs) in order to shape public opinion and interfere in decision-making processes. CeSIOs rely on the employment of sock puppet accounts to engage authentic users in online communication, exert influence, and subvert online discourse. Large Language Models (LLMs) may further enhance the deceptive properties of sock puppet accounts. Recent LLMs are able to generate targeted and persuasive text which is for the most part indistinguishable from human-written content -- ideal features for covert influence. This article reviews recent developments at the intersection of LLMs and influence operations, summarizes LLMs' salience, and explores the potential impact of LLM-instrumented sock puppet accounts for CeSIOs. Finally, mitigation measures for the near future are highlighted.

翻译：社交媒体平台实现了高度不受限制的多对多通信。在危机时期，它们为集体意义建构提供了空间，并催生了新的社会现象（例如开源调查）。然而，它们也作为威胁行为者进行网络化社会影响力操作（CeSIOs）的工具，以塑造公众舆论并干扰决策过程。CeSIOs依赖于使用傀儡账户来吸引真实用户参与在线交流、施加影响并颠覆在线讨论。大型语言模型（LLMs）可能进一步增强傀儡账户的欺骗性。最近的LLMs能够生成具有针对性和说服力的文本，这些文本在很大程度上与人类撰写的内容难以区分——这是隐蔽影响的理想特征。本文回顾了LLMs与影响力操作交叉领域的最新进展，总结了LLMs的重要性，并探讨了由LLM驱动的傀儡账户对CeSIOs的潜在影响。最后，强调了近期的缓解措施。