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AI-generated misinformation deemed greatest threat in 2024 election year

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The internet gives users the ability to upload content and connect with millions of people all over the world. However, this ability to connect also makes users susceptible to deepfakes — media that appears real but is manufactured. With the help of artificial intelligence, deepfakes are looking more realistic than ever.

According to the World Economic Forum, AI-generated misinformation has been deemed the greatest short-term threat to the global economy in a year when multiple countries are holding major elections.

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The 2024 election will be the first U.S. presidential election since AI became widely available to the general public.

GOP frontrunner and former President Donald Trump has been a victim of AI misinformation before and is now facing another deepfake scandal following the release of more Epstein documents.

As the public anticipated who would be named in the files and connected to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, some people seized the opportunity to manipulate copies of the documents using AI, adding new names to the documents that were never there.

While Trump was named in the actual documents, he was not accused of any wrongdoing.

Photos manipulated and constructed with AI also surfaced, including some placing Trump on Epstein’s plane, surrounded by young girls. The images were shared on social media, and can still be found on X.

https://twitter.com/denisedwheeler/status/1742537601008230528

Actor Mark Ruffalo — who has over 8 million followers — shared one post, which has been viewed nearly 3 million times and counting.

Ruffalo later apologized after X users flagged the post as AI-generated.

https://twitter.com/MarkRuffalo/status/1743060455239901573

Both Trump and President Joe Biden have called for some sort of AI controls.

Trump shared news of Ruffalo’s mistake on his social media platform Truth Social, saying, “This is A.I., and it is very dangerous for our Country!” and “Strong Laws ought to be developed against A.I. It will be a big and very dangerous problem in the future!”

This is a similar sentiment to what Biden said when he signed an executive order on mitigating risks connected to artificial intelligence.

“We face a genuine inflection point in history, one of those moments where the decisions we make in the very near term are going to set the course for the next decades,” Biden said. “And with the position we lead the world, the toughest challenges are the greatest opportunities.” 

According to a new Davos report released Jan. 10, people agree that “false and misleading information” exacerbated by artificial intelligence is the “top immediate risk to the world.”

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[KARAH RUCKER]

IF YOU’RE SEEING THIS VIDEO –

THEN YOU’RE WATCHING ME FROM SOME SORT OF ELECTRONIC DEVICE CONNECTED TO THE INTERWEBS.

IT’S A WONDERFUL PLACE TO BE.

ANYONE – ANYWHERE – CAN UPLOAD CONTENT AND CONNECT WITH MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.

WHICH – ALSO MAKES IT A SCARY PLACE TO BE IN 2024.

YOU ARE SUSCEPTIBLE HERE TO “DEEP FAKES”.

THINGS THAT LOOK REAL – BUT ARE MANUFACTURED.

AND WITH THE HELP OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – DEEP FAKES LOOK MORE REAL THAN EVER.

YOU ALREADY KNOW THIS.

WE’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE “THREATS OF AI” FOR MORE THAN A YEAR.

BUT NOW, ENTER OUR FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SINCE A-I BECAME WIDELY AVAILABLE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

IT’S SOMETHING GOP FRONTRUNNER DONALD TRUMP HAS BEEN A VICTIM OF BEFORE.

AND THE FORMER PRESIDENT RAN INTO ANOTHER RECENT DEEP-FAKE SCANDAL WITH THE RELEASE OF EPSTEIN FILES THIS WEEK.

THE PUBLIC WAS HIGHLY ANTICIPATING WHO WOULD BE NAMED IN THE FILES AND TIED TO CONVICTED SEX-TRAFFICKER JEFFREY EPSTEIN.

THE ANTICIPATION GAVE BAD ACTORS AN OPPORTUNITY.

AI WAS USED TO MANIPULATE COPIES OF THE DOCUMENTS, PUTTING NAMES ON THE LIST THAT WERE NEVER THERE.

AND PHOTOS SURFACED – IMPLEMENTING PEOPLE IN THE PUBLIC EYE, EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE FAKE.

THAT INCLUDES A FEW PHOTOS OF TRUMP.

WHILE HE WAS NAME DROPPED IN THE DOCS, BUT NOT ACCUSED OF ANY WRONGDOING, PHOTOS SURFACED ONLINE THAT APPEARED TO PLACE TRUMP ON EPSTEIN’S PLANE –

SURROUNDED BY YOUNG GIRLS.

THESE ARE THE PHOTOS.

AGAIN – THESE WERE FOUND TO BE MANIPULATED AND CONSTRUCTED WITH AI.

THEY WERE SHARED TO SOCIAL MEDIA, WHERE THEY CAN STILL BE FOUND ON X.

THIS POST – VIEWED THREE MILLION TIMES AND COUNTING, SHARED – BY ACTOR MARK RUFFALO WHO HAS 8 MILLION FOLLOWERS, AND WHO LATER APOLOGIZED AFTER TWITTER USERS FLAGGED THE POST AS “AI GENERATED”.

THIS IS JUST THE MOST RECENT EXAMPLE.

AI GENERATED CONTENT GENERATING MISTRUST AND DECEIVING THE PUBLIC.

IT’S A CONCERN SHARED BY TWO PEOPLE WITH NOT MUCH COMMON GROUND.

BOTH BIDEN AND TRUMP

HAVE CALLED FOR SOME SORT OF AI CONTROLS.

TRUMP SHARED NEWS OF MARK RUFFALO’S MISTAKE, SAYING “A.I. IS VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR COUNTRY.”

“STRONG LAWS OUGHT TO BE DEVELOPED AGAINST A.I. IT WILL BE A BIG AND VERY DANGEROUS PROBLEM IN THE FUTURE!”

A SIMILAR SENTIMENT TO WHAT BIDEN HAS PREVIOUSLY SAID.

[JOE BIDEN]

“We face a genuine inflection point in history, one of those moments where the decisions we make in the very near term — are going to set the course for the next decades. With the position we lead the world — the toughest challenges and greatest opportunities — there’s no greater challenge that I can think in my life than what AI presents.”

[KARAH RUCKER]

RIGHT NOW – THE WORLD IS IN AGREEMENT.

“FALSE AND MISLEADING INFORMATION” EXACERBATED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS THE “TOP IMMEDIATE RISK TO THE WORLD” – 

ACCORDING TO A NEW DAVOS REPORT OUT TODAY.

AND IN THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE –

ELECTION AFTER ELECTION AROUND THE GLOBE.