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AI can now find real names using only posts and web search, study shows

AI can identify people behind anonymous or pseudonymous online accounts by analysing public posts and combining web searches with inference, researchers found. A paper published in February described an automated process of extraction, search, inference and calibration. In tests on 338 Hacker News users, the system correctly identified 226, with 67 percent recall and about 90 percent precision. Researchers said costs were about $1 to $4 per profile and under $2,000 overall, but results do not mean all anonymous accounts can be identified.