Eric Schmidt says fake images and videos of politicians are flooding the internet
This proliferation of AI-generated misinformation will drive the public ‘crazy,’ he says
The Democratic election is not safe from AI interference, the former Google president warned.
Eric Schmidt, who ran a tech giant for 10 years, said the internet was likely flooded with fake images and videos of every politician during the election season.
He predicted that this spread of AI-generated misinformation would drive the public “crazy,” unable to discern what was true.
In an interview with LBC’s Andrew Marr, Schmidt said the UK and US were “clearly” ahead in the AI race, and it was important for both countries to decide what was “acceptable in a democracy” when it came to regulation. said.
His comments come as cabinet ministers prepare to shield the next general election from AI manipulation over concerns that the election could be hijacked by deepfakes spread by rival forces.
Eric Schmidt, who ran Google for 10 years, said fake images and videos of any politician are likely to flood the internet during election campaigns.
British Godfather of AI, 75, quits Google over fears the ‘terrifying’ technology he pioneered ‘may soon be smarter than us’ – read more
Jeffrey Hinton, 75, known as the “godfather of artificial technology,” said part of his mind now regrets helping develop the system.
Schmidt, a former executive at a tech giant accused of an AI arms race with rival Microsoft, is the second to warn of the technology’s dangers.
Earlier this month, British scientist Dr. Geoffrey Hinton, known as the “Godfather of AI,” resigned from Google to warn the public about the dangers machines will soon pose to humanity.
The 75-year-old said his biggest immediate concern was how “villains” like Russian President Vladimir Putin would use the tool to win wars and elections.
Schmidt served as Google’s chief executive officer from 2001 to 2011 before becoming executive chairman, a high-level position he held until his retirement in 2020.
He warned of the dangers of AI, said he did not believe democratic elections were safe from AI interference, and called the potential for AI to deceive people “terrifying.”
“The proliferation of generative AI that creates fake images, not just images, but videos as well, is going to drive people crazy,” he said.
“Every political figure will not only be a victim of all this, but will also have some affiliated group that takes advantage of it. And today there is no perfect way to know if this is a real photo. it has to be fixed.
As police in New York City and Washington, D.C. prepare for possible riots if Donald Trump is charged with paying hush money to a porn star, an image appears to show the former president being arrested. .
“One of the problems is that as a baby, when you were born, you were taught to believe what you saw and heard. What’s more, what you’re hearing may also be fake.
He said that with the UK and US leading the world in AI, “it’s important to decide what is acceptable in a democracy.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised that the UK will be at the forefront of international efforts to put “guardrails” in AI to stop it from getting out of control.
Speaking at the G7 summit in Japan over the weekend, he said Britain was in a “natural position”, adding that concerted action was needed to prevent dangerous risks from emerging.
The scariest AI development ever: From ‘Balenciaga Pope’ to fake Trump arrests and deepfakes
The image of Pope Francis in a shiny white down jacket, a long chain with a cross and a water bottle in his hand is the latest example of the dangers of AI.
This stylish Pope was created by image generator Midjourney, which also created the shocking fake scene of Donald Trump being arrested by New York City police officers.
Deepfake videos also demonstrate the sinister power of AI by allowing users to create clips of celebrities that spread misinformation, with experts predicting 90% of online content will be created this way by 2025. I predict.
It seems that these scary AI developments are just the tip of the iceberg.
The image of Pope Francis in a shiny white down jacket, holding a long chain with a cross and holding a water bottle in his hand is the latest example of the dangers of AI.
Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and more than 1,000 tech leaders have called for a pause in the “dangerous race” of AI development, calling for AI development to be “affecting society and humanity.” It poses “serious risks” and could have “devastating” impacts. .
An AI-generated image of Pope Francis was published on Reddit on Friday and caused a stir this week, ultimately because the public believed it was real.
Model and author Chrissy Teigen tweeted, “I thought the Pope’s down jacket was real and thought nothing of it.” “There is no way we can survive in the future of technology,” she said.
Experts are also considering realistic AI images.
Web culture expert Ryan Broderick said the Pope’s image was “the first serious public-level incident of AI misinformation.”
However, the images followed a gallery of fake photos showing what it would look like if President Trump were arrested, but it was publicly known that these were AI-generated.
Earlier this month, Bellingcat journalist Elliott Higgins created an image that showed Trump screaming as his wife Melania was chased down the street by police officers. He even looks like a former president in prison in an orange jumpsuit.
“I legitimately thought these were real,” one tweeted, while another said they should be watermarked to make it clear that they were AI-generated and not real.
This comes as supporters claim, without evidence, that President Trump will be arrested today after the former president could be indicted for allegedly paying hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels. It was after he called out to “protest, protest, protest.”
This stylish Pope was created by image generator Midjourney. Midjourney was also behind the shocking fake scene of Donald Trump being arrested by police officers in New York City.
Deepfake videos and images are also booming online, showing that influential people are misinformed.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was used in a clip thanking the Democrats for their “service and inaction” on antitrust law.
An advocacy group for Demand Progress Action created this video, using deepfake technology to transform an actor into Zuckerberg.
Most recently, in February, several female Twitch stars were spotted images of themselves engaging in sexual acts on a deepfake porn website earlier this month.
Currently, there are no laws protecting humans from the generation of digital forms by AI.
