Artificial intelligence, a risk for the 2024 presidential election
Manipulating records, creating a photo, spreading “fake news” are among the manipulations of the AI. And the mistrust of many Americans vis-à-vis the media does not help matters.
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Donald Trump arrested by the police, a “creation” among others of artificial intelligence.
Twitter screenshot
A photo of Donald Trump arrested, a video showing a dark future in the event of President Joe Biden’s re-election or the audio recording of an argument between the two men. These social media posts have one thing in common: they are completely fake. All were created using artificial intelligence (AI), a rapidly growing technology. Experts fear that it will cause a deluge of false information during the US presidential election of 2024, probably the first poll where its use will be widespread.
Both Democrats and Republicans will be tempted to use AI – cheap, accessible and with little legal framework – to better seduce voters or produce leaflets with the snap of their fingers. But experts fear the tool could also be used to wreak havoc in a divided country, where some voters still believe the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, despite evidence to the contrary.
Invasion of Taiwan, insults between Trump and Biden
In March, fake – AI-generated – footage of him being stopped by police officers went viral, offering a glimpse of what the 2024 campaign could look like. Last month, in response to the announcement of Joe Biden, the Republican Party released a video, also made via AI, predicting a nightmarish future if re-elected. The realistic images, though fake, showed China invading Taiwan or a collapse in financial markets.
Earlier this year, an audio recording in which Donald Trump and Joe Biden profusely insult each other made the rounds on TikTok. It was of course fake and, again, produced using AI.
For Joe Rospars, founder of the digital agency Blue State, malicious people have, with this technology, “new tools to fuel hatred” and “to bamboozle the press and the public”. Fighting them “will require vigilance from the media, tech companies and voters themselves.”
“At the moment, the AI lies a lot”
“Right now, the AI is lying a lot,” says Dan Woods, a former official in Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign. should prepare for a much more intense disinformation campaign than in 2016.”
At the same time, this technology can also help to better understand voters, particularly those who do not vote or little, assures Vance Reavie, boss of Junction AI. “From there, we can figure out how to engage them and what policies will interest them.”
The mistrust of many Americans vis-à-vis the mainstream media does not help matters. “The fear is that as it becomes easier to manipulate the media, it will be easier to deny reality,” said Hany Farid, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. “If, for example, a candidate says something inappropriate or illegal, they can simply say that the recording is false. It is particularly dangerous.”
Regardless of the intentions of the person using it, the effectiveness of AI is undeniable. When AFP asked ChatGPT to create a political newsletter in favor of Donald Trump, providing him with false information that he spread, the interface drew, in a few seconds, a polished text, and full of lies. And when the bot was asked to make the text “more aggressive,” it regurgitated these false claims in an even more doomsday tone.
(AFP)
2023-05-29 19:39:29
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