WASHINGTON (AP) – Computer engineers and tech-minded political scientists are using cheap and powerful artificial intelligence tools to quickly create fake images, videos and audio that are realistic enough to deceive voters and potentially undermine elections. But I’ve warned for years that I’ll be able to create one.
Many of the composite images that appeared were crudeunconvincing It was expensive to create, especially in an era when other kinds of misinformation were so cheap and easy to spread on social media. Threats posed by AI and so-called deepfakes It always seemed like a year or two away.
no more.
Sophisticated generative AI tools can now clone human voices super realistic images, you can create video and audio in seconds with minimal cost. Tied to powerful social media algorithms, this fake digitally-generated content can spread rapidly across a wide area, potentially targeting very specific audiences, pushing campaigns’ dirty tricks to new lows. can be raised to
The implications for the 2024 election campaign and elections are both alarming and significant.Generative AI can be used not only to quickly create targeted campaign emails, text and videos, but also to mislead votersimpersonating candidates and undermining elections at unprecedented scale and speed.
“We are not ready for this,” warned AJ Nash, vice president of intelligence at cybersecurity firm Zerofox. “For me, the big breakthrough is that audio and video features have come along.
AI expert A number of alarming scenarios could soon emerge in which generative AI is used to create synthetic media to confuse voters, smear candidates, or incite violence. I have.
An automated robocall message in the candidate’s voice telling voters to vote on the wrong day. Audio recordings of candidates who have allegedly confessed to a crime or expressed racist views.Video footage of someone giving a speech or interview they never gave. Fake images masquerading as local news reports, pretending that a candidate has dropped out of the race.
“What if Elon Musk called you personally and told you to vote for a particular candidate?” Oren Etzioni, founder of the for-profit organization AI2, said: “Many people will listen. But it’s not him.”
Former President Donald Trump, who is running for president in 2024, shares AI-generated content with his followers on social media.A manipulated video of CNN host Anderson Cooper, shared Friday by President Trump on his own ‘Truth Social’ platform, distorted Cooper’s reaction at the CNN City Council with President Trump last weekwas created using the AI Voice Clone Tool.
A dystopian campaign ad unveiled last month by the Republican National Committee offers a glimpse into this digitally manipulated future.Online ad posted after President Joe Biden announced his re-election campaignand begins with a bizarre, slightly distorted image of Biden and the text, “What if the weakest president ever gets re-elected?”
Here’s a series of AI-generated images: Taiwan under attack. In the United States, storefronts are boarded up as the economy collapses. Soldiers and armored military vehicles patrol the local streets as waves of tattooed criminals and immigrants cause panic.
“AI-generated speculations about the future of this country that could happen if Joe Biden is re-elected in 2024,” the RNC reads the ad description.
Petko Stoyanov, global chief technology officer of Austin, Texas-based cybersecurity firm Forcepoint, said the RNC allowed its use of AI, but not others, including nefarious political campaigns and foreign adversaries. said no. Stoyanov predicted that groups seeking to interfere in American democracy would use AI and synthetic media as a means to undermine trust.
“What happens when an international organization (cybercriminal or state) impersonates someone?. What is the impact? Is there a way? ‘ said Stoyanov. “There will be more and more misinformation coming from international sources.”
AI-generated political disinformation is already circulating online ahead of the 2024 election (from defaced Biden video) AI-generated images of children appear to be making speeches attacking transgender people Probably studying devil worship in the library.
AI image believed to be President Trump’s headshot Also, when the former president was indicted in a Manhattan criminal court on charges of falsifying business records and was arraigned, he defrauded some social media users, even though he was deceived. bottom. Other AI-generated images showed Trump resisting arrestHowever, its creators were quick to acknowledge its origins.
Rep. Yvette Clark (New York) introduced a bill to the House of Representatives that would require candidates to be labeled in AI-generated election ads. He is also the proponent of a bill that would require anyone creating synthetic images to add a watermark to indicate that fact.
Some states have their own proposals For addressing concerns about deepfakes.
Clark said his biggest concern is that generative AI could be used to create videos and audio that incite violence and turn Americans against each other before the 2024 election.
“It’s important to keep up with technology,” Clark told The Associated Press. “We have to put up some guardrails. People can be fooled, but it only takes a fraction of a second. People are so busy with their own lives that they don’t have time to check all the information. Weaponizing AI could have a very devastating effect on the political season.”
Earlier this month, a political consultancy trade group in Washington condemned the use of deepfakes. In political advertising, it called “legal and ethical campaigns have no place” and “deception”.
Other forms of artificial intelligence have long been used as a function of political campaigns, such as using data and algorithms to target voters on social media and automate tasks such as tracking donors. . Campaign strategists and tech entrepreneurs hope the latest innovations will bring some positives in 2024 as well.
Mike Nellis, CEO of progressive digital agency Authentic, said he uses ChatGPT “Every day,” we encourage our staff to use the tool as well, as long as the content created with it is later reviewed by humans.
Nellis’ latest project, in partnership with Higher Ground Labs, is an AI tool called Quiller. Create, send, and assess the effectiveness of fundraising emails. All of these are usually tedious tasks in a campaign.
“The idea is that every Democratic strategist, every Democratic candidate has a co-pilot in their pocket,” he said.
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Mr. Swenson reported from New York.
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