Artificial intelligence is taking over every aspect of life, from jobs, to commerce, to politics. The 2024 election will be the first presidential election conducted in the era of advanced AI, raising new concerns about how this will impact voters and what, if anything, can be done about it. "It's an incredibly dangerous and confusing time for the voter to know what is real and what is not," says Anthony Russo, political analyst and podcast host.
The advent of fake AI-generated audio and video can be used to create false perceptions to either help or hurt candidates. The first example of the 2024 election cycle was a fake robocall purported to be from President Joe Biden that went out to voters in New Hampshire ahead of last month's primary. "On top of that, you also had something released a few months ago where it sounded like Biden was essentially declaring war at the border, and some social media influencers were blasting it out there like it was truth," says Russo. "So this cuts across the board."
Not only are these fake clips used to bolster or harm particular candidates, they can also be used in 'false flag' operations. "Some of this is misdirection," Russo tells KTRH. "For instance, some of the clips that make Biden look bad, I think are actually put out there by entities that are pro-Biden, because they know once it gets shared and then proven to be fake, it makes the right look stupid."
Social media platforms have tried to police AI content, but doing so is very difficult with the technology still new and constantly evolving. That leaves the responsibility with voters. "Honestly, the only true way to discern anything at this point is to literally watch these people speak live, and when you see or hear something online, just remember if it seems a little off, it probably is," says Russo.
"This (technology) is already out of Pandora's Box, and I don't know how to put it back in at this point, except to pray and try to have real conversations with people."
Photo: AFP