By John Coppotelli IV
Videos during Political Campaigns are one of the most effective ways to get a message across to as many people as possible. However, with the rise of generative technology, the line between fact and fiction is becoming blurred. Videos of political candidates using AI and deep fake technology have been showing up more frequently.
So what are those? For our less tech-savvy readers, “deep fake” videos hit the media scene several years back; they are videos that mislead the user into thinking that a certain person said or did something. Imagine if you put the face of Donald Trump on a video of an Olympian throwing a javelin, for instance. Adding to that technology which has gotten significantly better over time, artificial intelligence (AI) is taking over the world by being a useful tool for everything from doing mundane work more efficiently to refining processes. AI is also allowing for better replication of voices and movements, so integration of AI into deep fake videos can lead to ultra-lifelike fake videos.
During election season, this will become a potentially dangerous practice that could influence voters. The implications that these deep fake messages could deliver can trick people into believing different false opinions. Audio-mimicking technology has grown so much over the last couple of years to the point where it has become almost indistinguishable to untrained ears. Additionally, the technology to make these videos is becoming more readily available.
Websites like Sora and OpenAI are free and easy to use, and the results are acceptable. With these websites becoming more readily available and this upcoming election will be the first time that this technology is accessible to the public. Being able to put words in other people’s mouths is frankly a terrifying prospect. This could lead to widespread misinformation in many different fields that could cause an incredible amount of damage. This could trick and confuse voters from making the decision that they really want to make.
Luckily, there is a silver lining, Texas in 2019 put a law into effect that makes creating slandering deep fakes within 30 days of an election a Class-A misdemeanor. Breaking that law would either lead to a year in jail and a $4000 fine, thus likely making those videos a little less prominent. Similarly, in 2023 Michigan and Washington passed similar laws that would result in jail time. This could hopefully discourage a lot of people from trying to attempt this. While there are no national laws preventing this yet, these state laws could at least prevent it temporarily.
Knowing about the threat is half the battle, and widespread awareness is a strong step forward. Unfortunately, now we also need to deal with the prospect of politicians, after they say or do something stupid, to blame it on deep fake videos instead of taking responsibility.