Clearly, artificial intelligence is the new “fake news.”
Describing AI is an increasingly popular strategy for politicians seeking to ward off responsibility for embarrassing things. After all, ai is not a person. It cannot be leaked or filed suits. It's a matter of mistakes, a matter of reliability, making it difficult to judge facts from fiction in the age of mistakes and disinformation.
And when truth is difficult to identify, there is a dishonest benefit, analysts say. This phenomenon is widely known as “liar dividends.”
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump approved the practice. When asked about the footage of the virus showing someone throwing something out of the White House window in the hierarchy, the president replied, “No, it's probably an AI.”
But Trump, known for claiming the truth, declared himself in the Ai-Blaming phenomenon, which is what he is saying.
“If something happens, it's really bad,” he told reporters.
He is not alone.
On the same day in Caracas, Venezuelan Communications Minister Freddie Inñez questioned the truth behind the Trump administration's video. The boat is then temporarily seen covered in flames.
“It's very likely that it was created using artificial intelligence based on the video provided,” ñáñez explained “almost cartoon-like animation” in his telegram account.
Describing AI can sometimes be a compliment. (“He's like an AI-generated player,” tennis player Alexander Babrik said of the talent of his open opponent Jannik Sinner at ESPN). However, experts say that when used by powerful people, experts can be dangerous.
Digital forensics expert Honeyfarid has long warned about the growing capabilities of AI's “deepfake” images, voices and videos to support fraud and political disinformation campaigns, but there have always been deeper issues.
“I've always argued that the bigger problem is, when you enter this world where something can be fake, nothing has to be real,” said Farid, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. “All you have to say is, 'It's a deepfake', so you can deny reality. ”
It wasn't that much 10 or 2 years ago, he pointed out. Trump issued a rare apology in 2016 (“If Someone Offended”) for his comments about touching women without agreeing to the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape. His opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, said it was wrong for her to call some of his supporters “a lamentable basket.”
Toby Walsh, chief scientist and professor of AI at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said that blaming AI leads to problems not only in the digital world but also in the real world.
“That leads to a dark future where we no longer have politicians (or someone else) accountable,” Walsh said in an email. “” That was that if you said something and got caught on tape, you had to own it. This is no longer the case. ”
Daniel K. Citron of the Boston University School of Law and Robert Chesney of the University of Texas foreshadowed the issue in a 2019 study. They describe what is called “liar dividends.”
“If the people lose faith in what they hear and see, and the truth becomes a matter of opinion, then power flows to those who have the most prominent opinions along the way,” they wrote in California's legal review. “Sceptic masses are prepared to doubt the credibility of actual audio and video evidence.”
Polls suggest that many Americans are wary of AI. According to a Pew Research Center poll in August 2024, about half of US adults said the increase in AI use in everyday life made them feel “a more worried than excited.” Pew's polls show that people are more concerned about the increase in AI use in recent years.
According to a Quinnipiac poll in April, most US adults seem to be distrustful of information generated by AI, knowing it is a source of information. About a quarter say they can only trust “sometimes” or “most” of the information generated by AI. In that poll, about six in 10 American adults said they were “very worried” about political leaders to use AI to distribute fake or misleading information.
They have a reason, and Trump has played a significant role in muddying trust and truth.
He even lies to Trump's misinformation history and to fit his story. He is famous for his use of “fake news.” This is a topical term widely known for showing skepticism about media coverage. Leslie Stahl from CBS' “60 Minutes” said Trump said he left the camera in 2016.
Trump's claim on Tuesday that the AI was behind the video in the White House window was not his first attempt to condemn the AI. In 2023, he claimed that the Anti-Trump Lincoln Project “looks unpleasant” using AI in the video.
A female narrator untooks cards in the place entitled “feble.” “Hey Donald… you're weak. You don't look unstable. You need to help circumvent.” She questioned his “manliness,” accompanied by the image of two blue pills. The video continues with footage of Trump stumbling over words.
“The perverts and losers like the once dismantled Lincoln Project and others use AI in fake TV commercials to make me look as bad and pathetic as the crooked Joe Biden,” Trump posted to The Society of Truth.
The Lincoln Project told The Associated Press that AI is not being used on the spot.
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Author Ali Swenson of Associated Press in New York, Matt O'Brien of Providence, Rhode Island, Linley Sanders of Washington, and Jorge Ruda of Caracas, Venezuela contributed to the report.
