Digital Event Horizon
A new analysis reveals that while deepfakes were not as pervasive as feared, generative AI had a profound impact on elections around the world. From virtual candidates to AI-generated content, the true extent of AI's role in shaping the 2024 election is more complex than initially thought.
The 2024 election season saw predictions about AI's impact on democratic elections, but its actual role was more nuanced than expected.Many campaigns were hesitant to use generative AI for deepfakes due to concerns about new state-level laws regulating deceptive ads.A virtual integrated citizen (VIC) candidate was created in Wyoming using ChatGPT, marking an early example of AI's role in politics.Generative AI played a subtle but significant role in shaping electoral processes in countries like Indonesia and India.Experts warn that clearer regulations are needed to govern the use of generative AI in elections due to ambiguity in laws regarding "deceptive" content.A new analysis found that half of detected deepfakes were not intended to be deceptive but rather served as social signaling.
The 2024 election season was marked by numerous predictions about the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in shaping the outcome of democratic elections. Many experts warned that deepfakes and generative AI would pose significant risks to the integrity of the electoral process, leading to widespread misinformation and confusion among voters. However, a new analysis reveals that while these concerns were not entirely unfounded, the actual impact of AI on the election was more nuanced than initially anticipated.
According to Bruce Schneier, a public interest technologist and lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School, the hype surrounding deepfakes and generative AI "was taking up a lot of oxygen in the room" during the election season. However, Schneier notes that many campaigns were hesitant to use generative AI to create deepfakes, particularly of opponents, due to concerns about being held to account by new state-level laws regulating deceptive ads.
One of the most significant instances of AI's role in the 2024 election was the creation of a virtual integrated citizen (VIC) candidate in Wyoming. VIC was a ChatGPT-based bot created by Victor Miller, which promised to govern entirely by AI. While this campaign did not ultimately win office, it marked an early example of how AI could be used in politics.
In other parts of the world, generative AI played a more subtle but still significant role in shaping the electoral process. For instance, in Indonesia, a political consulting firm used a tool built on OpenAI's ChatGPT to write speeches and draft campaign strategies for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In India, Modi himself utilized an AI translation software to translate his speeches into several languages spoken in the country in real-time.
Experts warn that while these instances of AI-generated content may not have had as profound an impact on the election outcome as initially feared, they do demonstrate the growing importance of generative AI in modern politics. According to Scott Brennen, director of the Center for Technology Policy at New York University, "the way these laws are written, it's sort of unclear what 'deceptive' means." This ambiguity highlights the need for clearer regulations and guidelines governing the use of generative AI in elections.
A new analysis published by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University found that about half of the instances of deepfakes detected during the 2024 election season were not intended to be deceptive, but rather served as a form of social signaling. This finding mirrors reporting from The Washington Post, which found that deepfakes did not necessarily mislead people or change their minds, but instead deepened partisan divisions.
In conclusion, while the impact of AI on the 2024 election season was more complex than initially predicted, it is clear that generative AI played a significant role in shaping the electoral process. From virtual candidates to AI-generated content, the true extent of AI's influence on democracy will only become clearer as researchers and policymakers continue to grapple with the challenges and opportunities presented by this rapidly evolving technology.
Related Information:
https://www.wired.com/story/the-year-of-the-ai-election-wasnt-quite-what-everyone-expected/
https://bestofai.com/article/the-year-of-the-ai-election-wasnt-quite-what-everyone-expected
Published: Thu Dec 26 06:43:26 2024 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
