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EmailBelow is a selection of news stories on the impacts that advancements in AI pose to free and fair elections, including risks such as deepfaked video, audio, and images, various forms of AI-exacerbated disinformation, and threats of voter suppression.
JUNE Articles
CHATBOTS WON’T ANSWER
Google’s and Microsoft’s AI Chatbots Refuse to Say Who Won the 2020 US Election | WIRED
The chatbots Gemini and Copilot won’t answer when asked who won the 2020 presidential election.
– David Gilbert
PUSHING BACK ON THE FCC
EXCLUSIVE: Sens. Lee, Lummis Introduce Bill As They Accuse FCC Of Meddling In Elections | MSN
Two Republican Senators introduced a bill to block the FCC’s proposed regulations of AI in political campaigns, accusing the FCC of interfering in the election process.
– Henry Rodgers
REALITY CHECK ON A.I. IMPACT
Five Myths About How AI Will Affect 2024 Elections | Tech Policy Press
Amid hype and confusion regarding the impacts of generative AI, the most credible threats come from expanding existing risks, requiring a wide array of mitigations.
– Irene Solaiman
Detecting DEEPFAKES
Deepfakes Are Evolving. This Company Wants to Catch Them All | WIRED
With a rise in deepfake scams targeting many sectors, there is increasing investment in deepfake detection technology, which could play a role in elections as well.
– Will Knight
IMPACT OF THE DIGITAL SERVICES ACT
Europe’s elections test a landmark social media law | Washington Post
Though the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) was written before the generative AI era began, it has already had some success at stemming voter suppression efforts.
– Cat Zakrzewski
COUNTERING DEEPFAKES IN INDIA
A Small Army Combating a Flood of Deepfakes in India’s Election | The New York Times
Deepfakes were commonplace in India’s election, ranging from comedic content to genuine attempts at deception.
– Alex Travelli
UNMODERATED CONTENT
WhatsApp Channels, used by millions, has no clear election rules | POLITICO
Despite rolling out public accounts, WhatsApp lacks the moderation that other Meta platforms like Facebook and Instagram have in place.
– Rebecca Kern
FALSE INFO FROM CHATBOTS
ChatGPT gave incorrect answers to questions about how to vote in battleground states | CBS News
Startups are entering the political ad market, helping candidates tailor specific versions of ads to different groups of voters.
– Haley Ott and Emmet Lyons
STOPPING A.I. CANDIDATES
An AI mayor? OpenAI shuts down tools for AI political candidates | CNN Business
Citing their policy against using their technology for political campaigning, OpenAI shut down access to their tools for two “AI political candidates.”
– Samantha Murphy Kelly
MAY Articles
CREATING DEEPFAKE AUDIO
Tests find AI tools readily create election lies from the voices of well-known political leaders | AP News
Researchers were able to create deep faked audio of political leaders using publicly available AI tools.
– Ali Swenson
REGULATING A.I. POLITICAL ADS
FCC will consider rules for AI-generated political ads on TV and radio, but can’t touch streaming | AP News
The FCC is considering a new proposal for regulating the use of AI in political ads, though they are unable to regulate ads using in streaming.
– Ali Swenson
CRACKDOWN ON DEEPFAKE MAKERS
Political consultant behind AI-generated Biden robocalls faces $6 million fine, criminal charges | AP News
The FCC proposed a $6 million fine and criminal charges of voter suppression for the creator of the deepfake recording of President Biden, as well as a $2 million fine for the company accused of transmitting the calls.
– Holly Ramer and Ali Swenson
April Articles
THE NEW REALITY
Deepfakes, distrust and disinformation: Welcome to the AI election | Politico
Political experts are increasingly concerned at the ease with which fake images of political candidates can be created.
– Mark Scott
A BETTER INTERNET
The AI That Could Heal a Divided Internet | TIME
Using large language models, online platforms can rank content in different ways, giving sites the option to prioritize virtues like nuance and compassion over anger and disgust.
– Billy Perrigo
March Articles
GLOBAL ELECTIONS
Election disinformation takes a big leap with AI being used to deceive worldwide | AP News
AI deepfakes have had impacts in elections across Asia and Europe, raising concerns among experts.
– Ali Swenson and Kelvin Chan
RUSSIAN FAKE LOCAL NEWS SITES
Clemson researchers have unearthed mock local news across the US linked to Russia | NYT.
– Steven Lee Myers
A.I. RESPONSES ON ELECTION LOGISTICS
Opinion: AI doesn’t have all the answers— especially this election season | LA Times
In an investigation, researchers found that chatbots answered election related questions incorrectly about 50% of the time.
– Alondra Nelson and Julia Angwin
TARGETING VOTERS OF COLOR
Trump supporters target black voters with faked AI images | BBC
AI-generated images of President Trump spending time with black voters have circulated on social media, recently.
– Marianna Spring
HOW PLATFORMS CAN PREPARE
The Shortlist: Seven Ways Platforms Can Prepare for the U.S. 2024 Election | Protect Democracy
Protect Democracy published recommendations for what tech companies can do to mitigate the impact of AI on elections in 2024.
NEW ANTI-MISINFO TOOLS
NewsGuard launches suite of AI anti-misinfo tools | Semafor
In March, the fact checking outlet NewsGuard launched a new anti-misinformation hub.
– Max Tani
IMPACTS ON COMMUNITIES OF COLOR
Opinion: AI is turbocharging disinformation attacks on voters, especially in communities of color | LA Times
Immigrants and people of color are at high risk from AI-enabled disinformation.
– Bill Wong and Mindy Romero
E.U. ELECTIONS AND A.I.
Disinformation has a powerful impact on voting intentions | The Parliament Magazine
EU advocates are concerned about disinformation in the context of their June parliamentary elections.
– Ana Fota
FEBRUARY ARTICLES
U.S. PREPAREDNESS
‘Disinformation on steroids’: is the US prepared for AI’s influence on the election? | US news | The Guardian
Amid an unsettled regulatory and tech landscape, experts worry that the US is unprepared for disinformation in 2024.
– Rachel Leingang
A NEW TECH ACCORD
OpenAI, Meta, and other tech giants sign effort to fight AI election interference | Reuters
20 tech companies signed an agreement in February in an effort to mitigate the impacts of generative AI on global elections.
– Sheila Dang and Katie Paul
A.I. OVERSEAS
AI is changing how elections are fought, from deepfake endorsements to chatbot campaigners | ABC News
In countries like India, Pakistan, and Indonesia, deepfakes and other uses of AI have increasingly become the norm in elections.
– James Purtill
DEEPFAKES IN INDIA
Deepfake democracy: Behind the AI trickery shaping India’s 2024 election | Al Jazeera English
Election deepfakes have become increasingly common in India, in advance of this year’s elections.
– Yashraj Sharma
DETAILS ON THE FAKE BIDEN ROBOCALL
Democratic operative admits to commissioning fake Biden robocall that used AI | NBC News
A Democratic political operative admitted to using AI to create a fake robocall of Joe Biden encouraging his supporters not to vote.
– Alex Seitz-Wald
Preparing the Federal Response
Biden officials confront limits of federal response in exercise preparing for 2024 election threats | CNN Politics
The Biden administration is preparing its response to viral disinformation, violence at election sites, and other possible threats to the 2024 election.
– Sean Lyngaas
A.I. Robocalls Are Illegal
AI-generated voices in robocalls can deceive voters. The FCC just made them illegal | AP News
Featuring Aspen Digital’s Josh Lawson
The FCC has banned robocalls that contained AI-generated voices.
– Ali Swenson
A.I. Could Disrupt Elections
AI could disrupt the 2024 US presidential election. What’s Congress doing about it? | CNN Business
Congressional experts are skeptical that Congress will pass any AI legislation before November.
– Brian Fung
Google Joins Content Provenance Standard
Inside the battle to label digital content as AI-generated media spreads | Axios
Google joined the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authority (C2PA), alongside Microsoft, Meta, and Adobe.
– Ryan Heath
Impact in Indonesia
Video shows fabricated results for Indonesians voting overseas in 2024 presidential election | AFP Indonesia
An AI-generated video claimed to show the results of ballots Indonesia’s voting overseas in the country’s presidential election.
JANUARY ARTICLES
New Threats to Democracy
Artificial Intelligence’s Threat to Democracy | Foreign Affairs
Generative AI could supercharge election risks, like disinformation and cyber threats, that could affect voter registration, vote casting, and reporting of votes.
– Jen Easterly, Scott Schwab, and Cait Conley
Biggest Short-Term Global Threat
AI-powered misinformation is the world’s biggest short-term threat, Davos report says | AP News
The World Economic Forum found that “false and misleading information” is the “top immediate risk to the world economy” in a new report.
– Kelvin Chan
A.I. Biden Robocall
‘Open season’ for AI to impact 2024 election | CNN Politics
A fake Joe Biden robocall went out to New Hampshire voters this month, raising concerns of the impact AI will have in 2024.
– Sara Fischer
Deepfake Technology is Spreading
It’s So Easy To Make AI Politicians That We Made Biden Legalize Weed | HuffPost
HuffPost created a deepfake of President Biden to demonstrate the technology.
– Matt Shuham
Political Tools Using A.I.
Voice cloning tech to power 2024 political ads as disinformation concerns grow | VentureBeat
Startups are entering the political ad market, helping candidates tailor specific versions of ads to different groups of voters.
– Sharon Goldman
Unprepared for A.I.
What AI Will Do to Elections | Foreign Policy
Experts worry that many tech platforms are less prepared for the 2024 election cycle than they were in previous years, right as generative AI becomes a major issue.
– Rishi Iyengar