Taiwanese security researchers warn that cheap AI-made video is turning into a powerful tool for Chinese influence operations, and Taiwan's defenses are not keeping up.

• AI-generated drama shorts are catching on fast, and their easy-watching style keeps certain age groups glued — making them a perfect vehicle for hidden political messaging.
• Influence campaigns have shifted from paid human posters to AI systems running around the clock, flooding Taiwan with cheap, convincing content that stokes anger and distrust.
• Four things are making it worse: China's weak economy pushing nationalism, shrinking US outreach like Voice of America, Taiwan's year-end local elections deepening political splits, and generative AI making deepfakes almost free.
• Taiwan's military still thinks in terms of hardware, with advanced weapons but little ability to block psychological infiltration, prompting calls to shift money toward recruiting information-warfare talent.
• Fact-checking is seen as too slow and passive; the proposal is to copy the EU's approach — freeze assets of groups involved, trace illegal money flows, and force platforms to open up their algorithms.

Outlook: Expect AI-scripted content to become a main channel for political manipulation ahead of Taiwan's local elections, with Taiwan's countermeasures still lagging.