The film frequently references the actual ads that Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, aired last week to kick off her campaign.
With three months to go until the election, an edited video that makes Vice President Kamala Harris appear to say things she did not say is raising concerns about artificial intelligence's deceptive capabilities. Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk published the video on his social media site X on Friday night and has been gaining attention, even though he did not initially clarify that it was intended as satire.
The film uses many of the same images as the actual ad Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, released last week to launch her campaign. However, the video's narration has been replaced with a different voice that accurately mimics Harris. “I, Kamala Harris, am your Democratic candidate for president because Joe Biden finally showed his dementia in the debate,” says the woman speaking in the video. The film claims that because Harris is a woman and a person of color, she is a “diversity hire” and lacks “fundamental elements to run a country.” The “President Harris” logo still appears in the video. It also includes several actual historical moments featuring Harris.
In an email to Harris campaign representative Mia Ellenberg, he said, “We believe what the American people want is real freedom, opportunity, and security that VP Harris provides, not the false, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.” As the presidential election approaches in the United States, realistic AI-generated photos, videos, and audio samples are being used to mock and misrepresent politics, as demonstrated in a widely shared video. The video makes clear that, despite high-quality AI tools now being much more widely available, no federal action has been taken to regulate their use, leaving states and social media platforms generally in charge of enforcing AI law in politics.
The video also raises concerns about how content that strays from the bounds of acceptable AI use is handled, particularly satirical content. The YouTuber who originally uploaded the video, a YouTuber named Mr. Reagan, acknowledged that the edited video was a parody on both X and YouTube. But Musk's post, which the platform claims has been viewed more than 123 million times, is captioned with just a laughing emoji and the words “this is awesome.” User X, who is familiar with the platform, may already know how to get from Musk's post to the original user's post, where they can see the disclosure. Musk's explanation does not say they should do so.
Musk's post had not yet been labeled as of Sunday afternoon, despite suggestions from some users of X's “Community Notes” feature, which allows users to explain the context of their messages. X's policies state that “users should not share synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media that may deceive, confuse, or harm anyone.” Some netizens questioned whether his post violated those policies. Cat memes and satire are allowed under the policy as long as they don't cause “significant confusion about the veracity of the media.” Earlier this month, Musk endorsed Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump. Neither Reagan nor Musk immediately responded to emailed inquiries seeking comment on Sunday.
After listening to the audio from the fake ad, two AI-generated media experts confirmed that it was largely created with AI technology. Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of California, Berkeley, was one of them, and argued that the video demonstrates the effectiveness of deepfakes and generative algorithms. “The AI-generated audio is very good. Most people would not believe it's VP Harris' voice, but the fact that the words are in her voice makes the video even more convincing,” he wrote in an email. He said generative AI companies that offer public access to voice cloning and other AI tools need to do more to ensure their services aren't used in ways that could put people and democracy at risk.
In contrast to Farid, Public Citizen co-president Rob Weissman said he believes many people will be duped by the film. “I don't think it's a joke, obviously,” Weissman said in an interview. “Most people who see it won't think it's a joke. It's not great, but it's good enough. And the reason most people will take it seriously is because it reinforces the general ideas that have been expressed about her.” Weissman said the video is “the kind of thing we've been warning about.” His organization has called on Congress, federal agencies and state governments to regulate generative AI.
Other generative AI deepfakes, both at home and abroad, may have attempted to sway voters with comedy, misinformation, or both. In 2023, a fake audio recording claimed to show a Slovakian candidate talking about voter fraud and intent to inflate beer prices days before the election. A satirical ad run by a Louisiana political action committee in 2022 superimposed the face of the state's mayoral candidate onto an actor playing a struggling high school student. Current regulation in the United States is largely left to state governments, with Congress yet to pass any laws on AI in politics and federal agencies taking minimal action. According to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures, about one-third of states have passed laws banning the use of AI in political campaigns and elections.
In addition to X, other social media companies have also created guidelines to discourage the sharing of fake or altered content on their networks. For example, video site YouTube allows users to risk having their accounts suspended if they don't disclose whether they use generative artificial intelligence to create their videos.
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