Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The American government states that AI poses a real threat to increasing disinformation during the US elections next year.
The White House said a lot of content was circulating, ranging from fake images of Donald Trump’s arrest to videos depicting a dystopian future under the leadership of Joe Biden.
They say the presidential election in 2024 will face a wave of disinformation supported by AI technology, even calling it the first AI election in America.
Both sides of US politics are leveraging advanced tools powered by artificial intelligence, which many technology experts see as a double-edged sword.
AI programs can clone the voices of political figures in an instant and create videos and text that appear so real that voters have difficulty discerning truth from fiction. It is believed that Ai’s presence will undermine confidence in the election process.
At the same time, campaigns are likely to use this technology to improve operational efficiency in everything from voter database analysis to composing fundraising emails.
A video released in June by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign purported to show former president Trump embracing Anthony Fauci, a favorite target of Republicans during the coronavirus pandemic.
AFP fact-checkers found that the video used AI-generated images.
After Biden officially announced his re-election bid, the Republican Party in April released a video it said was an AI-generated look at the country’s possible future, if he wins.
The video shows photo-realistic depictions of panic on Wall Street, China’s invasion of Taiwan, a wave of immigrants overwhelming border agents, and the military takeover of San Francisco in the wake of horrific crimes.
“Generative AI threatens to increase online disinformation campaigns,” said the nonprofit Freedom House in a recent report, quoted from AFP, Friday (3/11/2023).
They warned that the technology had been used to defame election opponents in the United States. Those producing disinformation use AI-generated images, audio and text, making the truth easier to distort and harder to understand.
According to a poll published by the media group Axios and business intelligence firm Morning Consult, more than 50 percent of Americans expect AI-induced lies to impact the 2024 election results.
About a third of Americans say they would be less likely to trust election results because of AI.
In a hyperpolarized political environment, observers warn such sentiments risk fueling public anger at the election process.
“Through (AI) templates that are easy and cheap to use, we will be faced with a wide range of campaign claims and counter-claims, with limited ability to differentiate between fake and genuine material, and uncertainty about how these appeals will impact the election,” said Darrell West from the Brookings Institution.
Everything is changing thanks to AI
At the same time, advances in AI have also made it a “game-changing” resource for understanding voters and campaign trends.
Campaign staff previously relied on expensive consultants to develop outreach plans and spent hours crafting speeches, talking points and social media posts. However, AI allows the same work in a very short time.
But it is necessary to underline the potential for abuse. As tried by AFP When asked the wrong question about Trump to ChatGPT, it actually produced a neat campaign complete with data from the wrong document.
When AFP further encouraging the chatbot from OpenAI to create a newsletter, they spread the same lies in a more apocalyptic tone.
Authorities are scrambling to draw boundaries for AI, with some US states such as Minnesota passing laws to criminalize deepfakes aimed at harming political candidates or influencing elections.
On Monday (30/10) Biden signed an ambitious executive order to promote the safe, secure and trustworthy use of AI”
“Deep fakers use AI-generated audio and video to tarnish reputations, spread fake news, and commit fraud,” Biden said upon signing the order.
He raised concerns that fraudsters could record a person’s voice for three seconds to produce deepfake audio.
“I’ve watched (deep fakes) myself,” he said. “I thought, ‘When did I say that?’
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