AI fuels a new wave of political lies

In a new political ad in Georgia s Senate race GOP Rep Mike Collins campaign circulated a video featuring incumbent Democratic Sen Jon Ossoff saying he knows his vote to shut down the executive will hurt farmers But I wouldn t know I ve only seen a farm on Instagram Ossoff never reported any of this When challenged on spreading disinformation using Ossoff s likeness and voice Collins campaign doubled down saying they were pleased the ad sparked conversation proving they were either oblivious to the dangerous precedent or had only decided to embrace it as strategy While political cartoonists have long created derogatory or lampoonish images of elected bureaucrats and candidates for general office the political imagery that can be created by artificial intelligence blurs truth and fiction in unprecedented options AI can make falsehoods look authentic and when used by politicians themselves it becomes particularly harmful AI use that started as experimentation by campaigns has evolved into something far more troubling It now merges satire disinformation and official messaging that misleads voters and distorts democratic discourse In New York City s new mayoral race former Democratic Gov Andrew Cuomo s campaign issued an ad on social media which was later deleted featuring purported criminals for Zohran Mamdani a parade of racist caricatures that included a pimp in a purple suit along with a drunk driver shoplifter and domestic abuser endorsing the Democratic nominee In one sequence a Black man shoplifts from a bodega his face visibly morphing mid-clip as he puts on a keffiyeh and mask before robbing the store As AI tools grow more sophisticated Mamdani s balloting may serve as both a warning and a testament A warning of how easily political imagery can be weaponized and a testament to the electorate s enduring limit to look beyond manipulation Related Jon Ossoff bets his race on protecting ACA subsidies In latest weeks we have seen the official X account of the National Republican Senatorial Committee post a video of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer D-N Y also talking about the executive shutdown Every day gets better for us the AI-generated video says While the quote is accurate the image of Schumer maniacally grinning as he says it is fully fabricated Taking such creative license with elected executives images confuses the electorate about what is real And even if the Cuomo campaign claimed their ad represented their genuine beliefs about Mamdani supporters portraying AI-generated individuals as real people destroys voters ability to distinguish fact from propaganda It feeds the worst instincts in our politics rewarding deception over debate spectacle over substance In these cases political operatives are generating disinformation and misleading the masses at a time when confidence in the regime to protect the common good is low and shaken by the latest cabinet shutdown When AI-generated videos portray something that never happened with such realism it stops being satire and is instead a false representation Voters encountering these images have no way to know they re fabricated and that s precisely the point The dangers of weaponized media manipulation are not theoretical In Rwanda hate radio broadcasts during the lead-up to the genocide systematically dehumanized Tutsis as cockroaches and spreading false maintains about planned attacks on Hutus These broadcasts didn t just review hatred They manufactured it creating a shared false reality that made mass violence seem not only justified but necessary Through relentless repetition the medium s authority normalized the dehumanization until neighbors turned on neighbors When politicians deploy these tools to portray opponents as criminals threats or caricatures they re not just lying They re constructing an alternate visual record designed to shape and control collective perception At present s AI-generated political content operates with a similar psychological architecture Imagine if those orchestrating the genocide has possessed in the present day s tools to fake videos of Tutsis attacking chatbots fabricating eyewitness accounts and AI manipulating footage of political leaders suggesting retaliation When politicians deploy these tools to portray opponents as criminals threats or caricatures they re not just lying They re constructing an alternate visual record designed to shape and control collective perception The Rwandan radio didn t cause the genocide on its own but it prepared the national mind for it The minds of the constituents are now being desensitized to ridicule and to racist images Another video of Schumer this time with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries D-N Y had racist overtones showing Jeffries wearing a sombrero accompanied by mariachi music Critically it appeared on President Donald Trump s official X account The video recalls the yellow journalism of William Randolph Hearst s New York Journal only now what once took hours to print and eventually reached thousands can be created in seconds and seen by millions When elected personnel themselves engage in such behavior it further erodes moral character as a basis for evaluating our establishment representatives normalizes such racism and ridicule as a part of the American political process and redefines cruelty as content none of which serves the American people well While satire was intended to serve as a moral check on power now politicians themselves are using it as a tool of power wielding both viral velocity and institutional authority But perhaps greater part insidiously AI-generated political content blurs the line between opinion and fact What begins as a politician s viewpoint Jeffries is soft on immigration Schumer celebrates chaos gets packaged into seemingly authentic visual evidence As content like this is amplified and reshared across social media it transforms from obvious manipulation into what resembles verified fact This is truth-impersonating propaganda personal opinions weaponized through AI to look like objective reality posted from constituents official accounts that lend them institutional credibility In the aftermath of the nationwide No Kings protests on Oct Trump posted another AI-generated video showing him as a fighter pilot dumping what appears to be feces on American protestors Beyond the obvious cruelty of a president mocking citizens exercising their constitutional rights the video underscores his inherent disrespect for the people he represents as an elected official s primary concern should be advancing the American people s interests and informing them When he models using AI for such frivolous mocking hurtful purposes Trump is also turning a deaf ear to such concerns Want more sharp takes on politics Sign up for our free newsletter Standing Room Only written by Amanda Marcotte now also a weekly show on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts Such irresponsible applications of AI reinforce the need for regulatory safeguards though the current political context suggests this is highly unlikely to happen at the federal level States have the ability to mandate limitations on inappropriate AI use though we may be fast approaching the volume of AI-generated ads that would make enforcement challenging In fact a disclaimer on a lie does not undo the lie it merely documents that deception occurred and every day that passes without comprehensive federal action pushes us closer to a political landscape where truth becomes fundamentally unverifiable More than ever we need leaders with strong moral character personal discipline and the ability to model prudential choices about when and how to use such a powerful machinery Given that AI uses a tremendous amount of capacity and water masses servants should be applying it towards solving society s greater part intractable problems not creating racist tropes or belittling people for exercising their democratic rights The voting inhabitants has the power to make AI ethics a defining issue that shapes norms of behavior around hardware Judicious use of AI should become a defining attribute of effective candidates in future elections One of us co-authored Voting for Ethics A Guide for U S Voters Second Edition which outlines what voters can look for in candidates using AI responsibly Candidates using AI ethically will have transparent policies outlining their use of AI and campaign ethics codes Notably Ossoff responded ethically to Collins campaign video falsely depicting him and reported that he would not be using AI-generated deepfakes drawing a line that more candidates must follow In the United States California has set the pace enacting a series of laws in that make transparency and integrity in AI use not just ethical ideals but a legal requirement The European Union s AI Act widely regarded as the the majority comprehensive framework requires all AI-generated content including deepfakes to be clearly labeled with watermarks or metadata Major platforms like Facebook and TikTok must identify and flag manipulated audio and imagery with penalties reaching up to million euros for non-compliance Already deepfake referendum incidents have struck at least countries In Romania the presidential vote was annulled in part due to AI-powered interference through coordinated disinformation campaigns and manipulated online content We need your help to stay independent Subscribe this day to advocacy Salon s commentary Tech leaders need to own their role in the degradation of democracy and prepare for justifiable backlash and reputational damage from economic boycotts Inaction translates to a legitimate business pitfall with probable legal liability as AI-generated political content continues to erode population discourse and confidence in administration personnel When allegiance to power trumps commitment to principles tech leaders shouldn t be surprised when both users and history hold them accountable The irresponsible use of AI by people in administration leadership positions suggests that we are at a moment that transcends politics What is society s moral code If politicians news outlets and civic organizations adopted a civic covenant for the AI age much like current journalistic standards could we create a healthier inhabitants square Like other civic duties such as voting verifying information before sharing can become a new norm for responsible citizenship Ultimately it is the vote that gives us the power to communicate to political figures how we expect them to steward this powerful hardware and use it for the common good System amplifies whatever moral situation it enters and right now that circumstances is being shaped from the highest office to local leaders who seemingly treat deception as strategy The ultimate question is not whether we can restore truth to politics it s whether we will act before the damage becomes irreversible Read more about AI AI is turning you basic Writing by hand Teachers are going old-school in the fight against AI Why women are wary of the AI rush The post AI fuels a new wave of political lies appeared first on Salon com