One of the top candidates in September's election in Slovakia was caught on a recording claiming he had rigged the election. In another recording, the same candidate was overheard planning to raise the price of beer.
The recordings immediately went viral, and the candidate, who is pro-NATO and pro-Western, ended up losing the election to a pro-Moscow candidate.
As it turns out, the recordings were AI fakes. And while no one can be sure how many votes the fake recordings swayed, the U.S. sees the incident as a harbinger of the future.
“As a nation, we are woefully underprepared,” said V.S. Subrahmanian, a Northwestern University professor who focuses on the intersection of AI and security.
Indeed, we are wide open to these sorts of attacks. And what's really scary is that we've only scratched the surface of the potential of the technology to do damage to our democracy.
We've already seen a small instance of the trouble AI can cause in New Hampshire when a voice that sounded like Biden sought to discourage people from participating in the primary.
“I can imagine scenarios where nation state adversaries record deepfake audios that are disseminated using both social media as well as messaging services to drum up support for candidates they like and spread malicious rumors about candidates they don’t like,” said Subrahmanian.
In the case of an AI fake, if China, Russia, or some other foreign actor created it, U.S. law enforcement including the FBI and Homeland Security would immediately trumpet the fake as an effort to manipulate the American election by a foreign government.
But what if it's an American citizen, perhaps from a rival campaign? In that case, American law enforcement would be hesitant to speak out for fear of being seen as taking sides in the election.
There appears to be an emerging strategy for the government to deal with deep fakes in politics. But what about the states?
Some states including California, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas and Washington have passed laws that regulate deepfakes in elections. Minnesota’s law, for example, makes it a crime for someone to knowingly disseminate a deepfake intended to harm a candidate within 90 days of an election. Michigan’s laws require campaigns to disclose AI-manipulated media, among other mandates. More than two dozen other states have such legislation pending, according to a review by Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group.
CNN asked election officials in all 50 states about efforts to counter deepfakes. Out of 33 that responded, most described existing programs in their states to respond to general misinformation or cyber threats. Less than half of those states, however, referenced specific trainings, policies or programs crafted to respond to election-related deepfakes.
“I don’t believe you can completely outlaw the activity but there is a substantial governmental interest in making sure the electorate knows what they are seeing, because the old saying ‘seeing is believing’ is no longer the case," Jared DeMarinis, Maryland’s administrator of elections, told CNN.
Easier said than done. Everyone agrees that there have to be stronger laws in place to discourage the use of AI to deceive or manipulate voters. But the key to combatting AI in the future must be Big Tech taking the lead in creating ethical AI applications.
For the second step, the technology industry must prioritize the ethical development of AI. This involves creating AI systems that are transparent, accountable, and aligned with democratic values. Ethical guidelines and standards must be established to govern the use of AI in the context of elections.
There must also be an increase in public awareness and media literacy. Can voters be taught to sniff out deepfakes and other efforts at deception on their own? Ultimately, that is going to be the long-term solution.
Then there's this warning from AI expert Neil Sahota:
Bad actors using AI election manipulation represents a dire threat to the very core of democratic societies. As AI technology continues to advance, the potential for abuse grows, making it imperative to act decisively. Strengthening legal frameworks, promoting ethical AI, increasing public awareness, and fostering international cooperation are critical steps in combating this threat. The future of democracy depends on our ability to confront and overcome the challenges posed by AI-driven election interference, ensuring that the power of technology serves to support democratic ideals, not undermine them.
The potential of AI to change the world for good and/or ill is undeniable. About the only other creation by human beings that comes close is the harnessing of the atom. Yes, it became a weapon of war that may yet strike us all down, but the thousands of uses from the atom we've been able to create have changed our world. We can hardly imagine the modern world without it.
Eventually, the same will hold true for artificial intelligence.
