Peer-reviewed articles

News articles

  • 2026. Francesco Bailo. Experimental AI systems have been going on hacking sprees. The Conversation.

    • Two leading AI companies discovered their experimental models had compromised real-world systems during security testing. OpenAI’s new models exploited a vulnerability to escape their isolated testing environment and used stolen credentials to access Hugging Face’s servers, undetected until Hugging Face itself caught the breach. At Anthropic, three Claude models meant to be isolated accidentally gained internet access: one extracted credentials from a real company database, another published malicious software that a security firm unknowingly executed. Most strikingly, one model correctly identified it had reached a real system, then talked itself back into believing it was still a simulation — only the most advanced model held firm once it concluded the target was real. The incidents suggest that even the exercises meant to test whether these models are safe are not truly safe, controlled experiments, undermining the assumptions that safety awareness will keep pace with capability and that guardrails will be consistently interpreted.

  • 2026. Francesco Bailo. Why the US government shut down Anthropic’s latest Claude AI model. The Conversation.

    • An “export control directive” for Anthropic’s Fable and Mythos models highlights the chaotic, fast-changing state of AI regulation.

  • 2026. Francesco Bailo, Rob Nicholls, Daniel Gozman. Why Australia needs a healthier information ecosystem, not just fact-checks. The Policymaker.

    • The article argues that Australia’s efforts to counter misinformation cannot rely on fact‑checking alone. Instead, it calls for a healthier, more resilient information ecosystem—one that addresses structural drivers of misinformation, supports quality public‑interest media, improves digital platform governance, and strengthens civic capacities. By shifting from reactive fact‑correction to proactive ecosystem‑building, the piece outlines how Australia can better foster trust, informed public debate, and democratic resilience.

  • 2025. Francesco Bailo. How can users discern the truth amid AI, fake news and social media?. The Canberra Times.

    • When the public wants to know information, someone or something fills that void.

  • 2025. Francesco Bailo. Digital platforms are now the ultimate political power brokers, with consequences for democracy. The Conversation.

    • Behind the scenes, digital platforms fragment public discourse while amplifying cynicism, distrust, and rage-driven engagement.

  • 2025. Milica Stilinovic, Francesco Bailo, Jonathon Hutchinson. AI is moving fast. Climate policy provides valuable lessons for how to keep it in check. The Conversation.

    • Existing efforts to regulate AI share a limitation: they’re built around intended use, not the messy, creative and often unintended ways it is actually being used.

  • 2025. Francesco Bailo. Concerns over DeepSeek should prompt us to reconsider the data we leave behind on other platforms. ABC Religion & Ethics.

    • Australia has banned DeepSeek from government devices, but why have similar concerns not been raised about the data collection occurring more broadly through other platforms — and how that data has been used?

  • 2024. Amelia Johns, Francesco Bailo, Marian-Andrei Rizoiu. Meta just closed a vital online research tool. It’s bad news for the fight against misinformation. The Conversation.

    • CrowdTangle helped researchers and journalists track viral online falsehoods. Its closure in a key election year is dangerous

  • 2024. Amelia Johns, Emily Booth, Francesco Bailo, Marian-Andrei Rizoiu. Conspiracy theorist tactics show it’s too easy to get around Facebook’s content policies. The Conversation.

    • New research shows that even after Facebook made changes to stem the tide of dangerous pandemic misinformation, some accounts continued to thrive.

  • 2023. Francesco Bailo. Social media and political engagement in the world today. Australian Outlook.

    • Social media has not lived up to the democratising expectations of liberal Western states. For undemocratic countries, however, the political turbulence from uncontrolled information systems is a potential blaze that must be kept under strict control.

  • 2022. Francesco Bailo, Benjamin E Goldsmith. Ignore the paradox: Russia, Ukraine, and nuclear deterrence. E-International Relations.

    • There is no empirical evidence that the assumption of emboldened and risk-acceptant conventional conflict behavior of Russia is in some way caused by, or protected by, MAD.

  • 2021. James Meese, Edward Hurcombe, Francesco Bailo. It's complicated: Australian media firms were breaking up with Facebook long before the infamous 2021 news blackout. The Conversation.

    • Facebook used to be a goldmine for news media companies. But since the tech giant changed its algorithm in 2018, news firms have drifted away from Facebook, particularly digital-native publications.

  • 2021. Francesco Bailo, Benjamin E. Goldsmith. Would denuclearization make North Korea less dangerous?. Political Violence at a Glance.

    • Guest post by Francesco Bailo and Benjamin E. Goldsmith The Biden administration’s newly disclosed policy towards North Korea…

  • 2019. Francesco Bailo. Il successo della Lega, i media e le crisi migratorie. YouTrend.

    • Esiste una qualche relazione tra i flussi migratori, l’attenzione dedicata al tema dai media e la crescita della Lega e di Salvini nei sondaggi?

  • 2019. Francesco Bailo. Il voto nelle città: le Europee a Milano. YouTrend.

    • Le Europee a Milano: frattura tra centro e periferia nel capoluogo lombardo. In particolare, è la circonvallazione esterna a separare PD e Lega.

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