In what is widely billed as America’s first AI election in November, researchers warn that tech-enabled fakery could be used to steer voters toward or away candidates, or even avoid the polls altogether – stoking tensions in an already hyperpolarized environment.
A recent wave of disinformation has renewed calls for tech giants – many of which have recently retreated from moderating social media content – to strengthen guardrails around generative artificial intelligence.
Last week, Elon Musk faced intense criticism for sharing a deepfake video of Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, with his 192 million followers on X, formerly Twitter, where she calls President Joe Biden senile, and the declares that she does not “know the first thing about running the country.”
Weeks earlier an image shared across platforms appeared to show police forcibly arresting Donald Trump after a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Digital forensics experts found it to be a deepfake.
“These recent examples are highly representative of how deepfakes will be used in politics going forward,” said Lucas Hansen, co-founder of the nonprofit CivAI.
Several tech giants have said they are working on systems for labeling AI-generated content.
In the Philippines, which also has a midterm election next year, the Department of Information and Communication Technology has called for a comprehensive law to combat deepfakes and disinformation on social media.
“We need to have a more comprehensive law rather than bits and pieces of legislation that address small items or specific items,” DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said, as he warned that deepfakes will be used in the upcoming elections.
A deepfake video of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. allegedly using illegal drugs recently circulated on social media.
The Commission on Elections has also mulled either a ban or regulations on the use of AI during the campaign period, which should be a concern for all poll bodies as democracies try to evolve with technology, in a manner where no candidate can have an unfair advantage.
It will require the cooperation of government and the private sector, especially those involved in the cutting edge of technology and digitization, to ensure that humans benefit from advancements like AI, and to stay ahead of those who intend to use it for wrong and selfish reasons.*
