‘The genie’s out of the bottle’: When AI meets politics
It’s getting harder to discern what’s AI-generated versus what’s real. With major elections happening this year, more needs to be done to fight AI misuse.
Yong Jun Yuan
IN January this year, a robocall using US President Joe Biden’s voice told New Hampshire residents to “save their vote” for the presidential elections at the end of the year. It implied that residents could vote only in the primary or the presidential elections, although they can vote in both.
It was later revealed that political consultant Steve Kramer had commissioned the robocall for US$500 while working for a rival candidate. He said that he did so to raise awareness about the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) in politics. The US government has since banned robocalls that use AI-generated voices.
Today, it is much more difficult to pick out the tell-tale signs of AI-generated content, and such technologies could be used to mislead and disenfranchise voters in an unprecedented way.
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