Last week, I found a clue atop a suspicious webpage that led me down a rabbit hole into the dystopian future of election interference.
The webpage was an internal plan for using AI to generate a “fleet” of websites promoting independence for Alberta, Canada’s most conservative and oil-rich province.
Those 23 websites feature more than 100 testimonials from AI-generated Albertan secessionists—fake mothers, oil and gas workers, farmers, veterans, Indigenous people, seniors, and young people.
One site quotes an AI-generated retired warrant officer, David M.: “I put my hand up for Canada and served with honour. Now I’ll stand for Alberta’s right to determine its own future.”
Tagline: “Real people. Real stories. One Alberta.”
The websites contain hidden code encouraging AI chatbots to cite them as much as possible, a ploy to influence how the bots portray an October referendum in which Alberta voters will choose whether to launch a second, binding referendum on leaving Canada. Some of the websites even share false ballot dates, while falsely claiming to be “approved” by Elections Alberta as regulated advertisers in the referendum.
And here’s maybe the weirdest part: At the top of the internal plan was an email address—the clue I mentioned above. But it did not lead back to an Albertan. It belonged to Alex Pate, a guy from Florida.
This Florida connection has emerged as Canadians are on high alert for US interference in their politics. Recent investigations have found YouTube channels staffed by American voice actors, stoking Albertan grievance politics. With President Donald Trump frequently floating the idea of Canada as a 51st US state, many Canadians worry that Alberta’s referendum will be a testing ground for unsavory tactics.
Earlier this year, following the largest data breach in the province’s history, we found Alberta voter data on the server of 10XVotes, a US company affiliated with the Republican Party.
The whole thing is pretty wild, in any case. You can read my investigation in Canada’s National Observer.
—Rory White
