AI deepfakes are already in full force this election season
For years, we’ve been warned about the deleterious effects of deepfakes on our elections: AI -generated videos that can dupe voters into believing candidates have said or done things they haven’t. Now, well into the generative AI revolution and with the midterms months away, they’ve become a meme-y, juvenile feature of everyday politics—including in last night’s primary elections . In a tense…
In the current election season, the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) through deepfakes has become rampant. These AI-generated videos, which fabricate statements or actions, are being widely employed in political campaigns, often with humorous or juvenile intent. A recent instance occurred in the Michigan Senate race where Republican candidate Mike Rogers released an AI-generated video portraying his Democratic opponent, Abdul El Sayed, as Odysseus entering Michigan in a Trojan horse alongside prominent Democrats.
This video was viewed over 2 million times on X (formerly Twitter). Similarly, in Massachusetts, Republican candidate Brian Shortsleeve's campaign has produced AI-generated videos attacking Governor Maura Healey, including a Halloween-themed ad depicting her as a vampire and another mimicking her voice in a mocking radio ad.
Further evidence of this trend can be seen in Texas, where the National Republican Senatorial Committee released an ad featuring an AI-generated version of Democratic candidate James Talarico reading his controversial tweets aloud. Even before his election as mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani faced an anonymous social media campaign generating synthetic local voters criticizing him using AI.
While there exist laws to curb the misuse of AI in politics, their impact appears limited. States like Arizona and Minnesota have attempted to regulate AI use through disclosure requirements and prohibiting nonconsensual deepfakes, but these laws do not seem to significantly deter the proliferation of such content. The difficulty in preventing the spread of AI-generated videos and maintaining attached disclaimers further complicates the issue.
Furthermore, the effectiveness of political ads, even before the advent of generative AI, has been questionable. Therefore, it seems that the normalization of AI in political advertisements may not be causing more new damage than initially feared.
Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
