AI-Generated Content for Elections Is Here and The Social Networks aren’t Ready
On the eve before Chicago’s mayoral elections, a video featuring moderate Democrat Paul Vallas was posted online. The video was tweeted by the \”Chicago Lakefront News\” and appeared to show Vallas railing at lawlessness in Chicago, suggesting that \”nobody would bat an eyelid\” when fatal police shootings occurred.
The video was widely circulated before it was revealed to be a fake created by artificial intelligence. Its two-day-old Twitter account has also disappeared. While it is impossible to know if the video had an impact on Vallas losing against Brandon Johnson, former teacher and union activist, it offers a glimpse of the AI deceptions which could muddy public discourse in the upcoming presidential elections. It raises the question of how platforms such as Facebook and Twitter will mitigate these deceptions.
This is a huge challenge. As there are no laws regulating the use of AI in political campaigns, platforms must decide what fakes will appear on users’ feeds. Most are currently struggling with how to self regulate. Hany Farid is an electrical engineering professor and computer scientist at UC Berkeley. He told Forbes that these are serious threats to democracy. \”I don’t see platforms taking this serious.\”
Source:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/irenebenedicto/2023/07/05/ai-generated-2024-election-content-social-media/?sh=4c573c6237c1
