Our most recent book is titled Divided We Stand: The 2020 Elections and American Politics. Among other things, it discusses the impact of social media and campaign technology.
Computer engineers and tech-inclined political scientists have warned for years that cheap, powerful artificial intelligence tools would soon allow anyone to create fake images, video and audio that was realistic enough to fool voters and perhaps sway an election.
The synthetic images that emerged were often crude, unconvincing and costly to produce, especially when other kinds of misinformation were so inexpensive and easy to spread on social media. The threat posed by AI and so-called deepfakes always seemed a year or two away.
No more.
Sophisticated generative AI tools can now create cloned human voices and hyper-realistic images, videos and audio in seconds, at minimal cost. When strapped to powerful social media algorithms, this fake and digitally created content can spread far and fast and target highly specific audiences, potentially taking campaign dirty tricks to a new low.
...
Former President Donald Trump, who is running in 2024, has shared AI-generated content with his followers on social media. A manipulated video of CNN host Anderson Cooper that Trump shared on his Truth Social platform on Friday, which distorted Cooper’s reaction to the CNN town hall this past week with Trump, was created using an AI voice-cloning tool.
Outrageous. Trump post fake clip of Anderson Cooper saying, “That was President Donald J. Trump ripping us a new as*hole here on CNN.” It’s outrageous because his gullible MAGA supporters will believe it’s real. pic.twitter.com/t2xQVLEHvN
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 12, 2023
