AI generation of rage bait: Implications for digital harms
2025-12-16
With the increasing use of generative AI tools to enhance engagement on social media platforms, we are beginning to see AI-generated content contributing to digital harms, including particularly online abuse. Drawing on digital ethnography case studies, this article investigates the emergence of AI-generated ‘rage bait’ content, a severe form of trolling attempting to invoke users into adversity and outrage. AI-generated rage bait differs from other rage baiting because no human actor is involved in its creation or initial distribution. Case study examples of rage bait posts generated by AI tools are analysed. The article theorises the cultural causality of AI-generated rage bait and other digital harms, discussing how AI tools draw on extant datasets, practices and norms to further embed rage in the digital ecology. The article discusses some of the cultural and policy implications of digital harms originating from AI generators and provides a roadmap for further study.