Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) warned on NBC's “Meet the Press” on Sunday that artificial intelligence (AI) could “amplify” misinformation ahead of the upcoming election.
“Well, you have to look back,” Fontes said, as recorded. “In my recruit training in the Marine Corps and in other military training, we were trained to look at enemy weapons and counter them as best we could. AI is not a new weapon. It is an amplifier and amplifier of misinformation and disinformation.”
“What I wanted to do was make sure that our election officials were familiar with this issue, that there was a process in place to address and deal with this issue within each county, because our elections are also conducted at the county level,” Fontes continued. “We also did a tabletop exercise with our election officials and some of our media partners so that our media partners would know how to respond and be aware of this issue.”
“AI and the companies that harness its potential will transform lives around the world. There's no doubt about it,” President Biden said in a post on social platform X on Tuesday.
“But first, they must earn our trust,” Biden continued. “I am committed to doing everything in our power to advance and demand innovation that is safe, secure, trustworthy and responsible, and that includes the use of AI-generated voice. I ask AI companies to join me in this commitment.”
During his “Meet the Press” appearance, Fontes also said the rising threats against election officials constitute “domestic terrorism” and that he and others in his office are working with law enforcement agencies across the country to address the issue.
“And if you go back to what we were talking about earlier, one of the ways that I've looked at this and dealt with it is by telling some really hard truths,” Fontes said.
“So any threat against United States election officials is domestic terrorism,” he continued. “Terrorism is defined as intimidation or violence to pursue a political outcome, and that is what this is.”
A poll earlier this month found that nearly four in 10 election workers had experienced intimidation, harassment or abuse at work.
Updated 8:24 a.m. EDT
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