As the U.S. presidential election draws near, tensions around generative artificial intelligence are beginning to mount, particularly in regard to the use of deepfakes to influence voters’ preferences and behaviors.
But it’s not just the political sphere that’s up in arms. Everyone—from gig workers to celebrities—is talking about the potential harms of generative AI, questioning whether everyday users will be able to discern between AI-produced and authentic content. While generative AI offers potential to make our world better, the technology is also being used to cause harm, from impersonating politicians, celebrities, and business leaders to influencing elections and more.
THE DEEPFAKE AND ROGUE BOT MENACE
In April 2023, a deepfake picture of the Pope in an ankle-length white puffer coat went viral. The Pope recently addressed this matter in his message for the 58th World Day of Social Communications, noting “We need but think of the long-standing problem of disinformation in the form of fake news, which today can employ ‘deepfakes,’ namely the creation and diffusion of images that appear perfectly plausible but false.”
Earlier this month, CNN reported that a finance worker at an undisclosed multinational firm in Hong Kong got caught in an elaborate scam that was powered by a deepfake video. The fraudsters tricked the worker by disguising as real people at the company, including the CFO, over a video conference call. This worker remitted a whopping $200 million Hong Kong dollars (about $25.6 million) in what police there highlight as a “first-of-it’s-kind case.”
Celebrities are also not immune from this onslaught of bad actors riding the sleigh of deepfakes for malicious intent. Last month, for example, explicit AI-generated images of music superstar Taylor Swift circulated on X and found their way onto other social media sites, including Telegram and Facebook.
It’s not the first time we’re witnessing deepfakes in the zeitgeist. In 2020, The Atlantic reported that then-President Donald Trump’s “first use of a manipulated video of his opponent is a test of boundaries.” Former President Barack Obama was portrayed saying words he never said in an AI-generated deepfake video in 2018.
But we are now in a major election year, with the highest number of global voters ever recorded in history heading to the polls in no fewer than 64 countries, representing almost 49% of the global population, according to Time. The impending elections have set the stage for a digital battleground where the lines between reality and manipulation are increasingly getting blurred.
