Faking an honest woman: Why Russia, China and Big Tech all use faux females to get clicks

By DAVID KLEPPER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to online scams and foreign disinformation, it pays to be female. Or at least to pretend to be. That’s according to research that shows that chatbots and fake social media accounts get more engagement when they have female personas. Researchers say that’s because people are more likely to view women as warm and approachable, and to see chatbots with feminine personas as more human than those posing as male. As a result, many chatbots are given a female personality, while groups linked to the Kremlin and China prefer fake accounts with female profile pictures to spread disinformation and propaganda.