As the US enters 'uncharted ground' of cutting-edge technology, campaign messaging will become more rapid and deceptive, according to an expert.
Political campaigns in the United States frequently feature ads that make generalized predictions of a dystopia if the rival candidate is elected. A crescendo of foreboding is created using edited, underexposed photos and hand-picked headlines.
An official Republican Party film, however, has stood out in the aftermath of Tuesday's news that Democratic President Joe Biden will seek reelection for a second term: It was produced entirely using artificial intelligence (AI) imagery.
Given the quick development and accessibility of AI technologies, the Republican National Committee's adoption of the "transformative technology of our time" is not unexpected, according to Darrell West, a senior scholar at the Brookings Institution's Centre for Technology Innovation.
He told Al Jazeera that the Republican Party's employment of AI is a foreshadowing of things to come.
"AI was not really used in election campaigns three years ago. But the technology developed very quickly. Additionally, the technology is now easily accessible, he added. You can make incredibly realistic-looking videos without being an expert in video editing or software design.
It is an unexplored area, he continued. We've advanced beyond Photoshopping isolated areas of an image to essentially creating an entirely new image from nothing. People will be free to make all kinds of videos and project various new realities that might not actually exist as a result.
‘An AI-generated look’
The Republican National Committee, on the other hand, was open about using AI, a general term for systems that aim to replicate and outperform human cognitive abilities including learning, reasoning, and creativity.
The political organization described the film as "an AI-generated look into the country's possible future if Joe Biden is re-elected in 2024" in its YouTube description.
Additionally, the text "built entirely with AI imagery" was incorporated in the film itself. After a fake newsreader announced Biden's victory in 2024, a series of fictitious catastrophes were shown, including China invading Taiwan, the financial markets collapsing, an invasion of the southern border, and authorities closing San Francisco "citing the escalating crime and fentanyl crisis."
In many aspects, the film doesn't differ significantly from the speech and visuals used frequently in US political campaigns.
"Sharing doctored images of an electoral rival is a timeworn strategy of modern politics," the Washington Post observed in 2020. The newspaper claimed that phony images increased quickly during the administration of former President Donald Trump, "possibly because Trump has proved to be one of their most popular distributors."
A broad interpretation of the right to make false or deceptive campaign statements has been frequently supported by US courts. Most recently, an appeals court determined in February that a North Carolina law prohibiting campaign falsehoods was "likely unconstitutional".
Courts have frequently determined that political speech constitutes protected speech, according to West, a technology innovation fellow at the Brookings Institution. In fact, candidates are still permitted to make knowingly misleading statements.
In an interview with NPR last year, Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission under former President Barack Obama, stated it another way: "Unfortunately, you're allowed to lie."
Speed and sophistication
West added that there are "virtually no checks on the use of this technology in a campaign setting" but that AI has the ability to enhance those current campaign practices.
There is no legal necessity to disclose the use of an artificial intelligence-generated image, he said. In this instance, the RNC voluntarily made it public. However, many organizations will use it in the future without alerting voters.
Even though they are still on the political periphery at this point, so-called deep fakes—video or audio that falsely portrays a person saying or doing things—have sparked specific cause for alarm.
Prior to the 2020 general election, laws were implemented in Texas and California that made deep fakes illegal and permitted misrepresented candidates to sue their manufacturers.
Federal attempts to legislate the matter, meanwhile, have made little headway due to concerns about its enforceability and opposition from digital rights organizations, which have claimed that large tech platforms should be in charge of enforcement.
‘Wild West’ moment
According to West, individuals looking to sway campaigns "can really respond almost instantly" to the most recent developments.
In essence, you ask the AI to produce images. They are yours in only a few seconds. Rapid reaction advertisements will therefore be used; something may occur, and an advertisement may appear five minutes later.
"It will be a very fast-paced campaign with lots of claims and counterclaims happening minute by minute," he said.
The New York Times reported in March that Democrats had apparently embraced some features of AI in campaigning and tested the technology to produce rough draughts of some fundraising pitches.
According to three persons with knowledge of the project who were cited by the newspaper, the Democratic National Committee's messaging produced by AI and edited by humans performed "as well as copy drafted entirely by humans, in terms of generating engagement and donations."
As West predicts, "one or two percent of voters" will decide the 2024 presidential election, making it crucial to quickly reach and perhaps misinform certain voter segments.
Voters won't be able to tell the difference between the real and the false in this Wild West time, he claimed.
"Things are going to be coming at them from every direction, and there's a risk of widespread confusion," he added. And that could be detrimental.
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