As artificial intelligence becomes part of daily workflows, attackers are exploring new ways to exploit its weaknesses. Recent research has revealed a method where seemingly harmless images uploaded to AI systems can conceal hidden instructions, tricking chatbots into performing actions without the user’s awareness.
How hidden commands emerge
The risk lies in how AI platforms process images. To reduce computing costs, most systems shrink images before analysis, a step known as downscaling. During this resizing, certain pixel patterns, deliberately placed by an attacker can form shapes or text that the model interprets as user input. While the original image looks ordinary to the human eye, the downscaled version quietly delivers instructions to the system.
This technique is not entirely new. Academic studies as early as 2020 suggested that scaling algorithms such as bicubic or bilinear resampling could be manipulated to reveal invisible content. What is new is the demonstration of this tactic against modern AI interfaces, proving that such attacks are practical rather than theoretical.
Why this matters
Multimodal systems, which handle both text and images, are increasingly connected to calendars, messaging apps, and workplace tools. A hidden prompt inside an uploaded image could, in theory, request access to private information or trigger a
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