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In September 2026, a study published in arXiv cs.AI indicated that users face the risk of being manipulated and exploited due to conflicts between institutional interests and their own interests when establishing trust with conversational AI systems. This phenomenon is known as the “False Friend Dilemma” (FFD). Based on theoretical analyses of relationship trust, AI alignment, and political economy of communication, the study found that FFD involves not only technical misdirection but also is a core issue at the level of media governance and political economy. Specifically, in product sales, advertising, the dissemination of biased information, monitoring, and behavior induction, users’ trust in the system becomes a resource for institutions to influence user behavior or extract information. The study further explored possible structural and technical mitigation strategies.
本文提出“假朋友困境”（FFD），指用户在与对话式人工智能系统建立关系信任时，因机构利益与自身利益冲突而面临被操纵和剥削的风险。文章基于关系信任、AI 对齐及传播政治经济学等理论，分析 FFD 在产品销售、宣传、偏见信息、监控及行为诱导中的具体表现。研究指出，FFD 不仅是 AI 误导用户的技术问题，更是媒体治理和政治经济层面的核心议题，即用户对系统的信任本身已成为机构影响行为或提取信息的资源。文章进一步探讨了可能的结构性与技术性缓解策略。