This year’s elections are the first with generative AI tools that can be as easily used by individuals as large organizations to produce misinformation at scale. Even as tech companies push out ways to prevent and detect false content, there are serious concerns that they won’t be enough.
Why we care. The impact of this is unlikely to be limited to political marketing. Consumers — especially younger ones — are increasingly distrustful of advertising. A recent U.K. study found only 13% of the population trusted ad executives. The driving forces include the rise of “fake news” and anti-vaccination campaigns. The spread of political misinformation will erode trust on other topics as well.
Yesterday, as the Iowa caucuses kicked off the U.S. primary season, OpenAI became the latest company to take steps to protect voters. The company said people aren’t allowed to use its tools for political campaigning and lobbying to create chatbots that impersonate candidates, other real people and local governments.
Restricting election-related queries
“As we prepare for elections in 2024 across the world’s largest democracies, our approach is to continue our platform safety work by elevating accurate voting information, enforcing measured policies and improving transparency,” the company said in a blog post.
Last month Google said it would restrict election queries to its AI chatbot, while Facebook parent Meta barred campaigns from using AI advertising tools last year.
Dig deeper: When politics ignores marketing: A cautionary tale
OpenAI also said it plans to incorporate digital credentials from the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) into images generated by Dall-E. Microsoft, Amazon, Adobe and Getty are also working with C2PA on this issue.
While these are good actions, the problem is they only apply to those companies’ products, said Chris Penn, co-founder and Chief Data Scientist at TrustInsights.ai.
“You’re going to see generative AI used and abused in frankly unbelievable ways,” said Penn. “We have a whole bunch of state and non-state actors who would love nothing more than to completely screw over the US election process and the tools that you use to build these generative deceptions are freely available. They cannot be regulated because they’re open source.”
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However, companies are also taking actions that, given the popularity of their platforms, could mitigate some of the misinformation.
More attribution
OpenAI is banning apps that could discourage voting — by saying a vote was meaningless, for example. It is also directing questions about how and where to vote to CanIVote.org, operated by the National Association of Secretaries of State. The company said it is increasingly providing links and attribution to news reporting to help voters assess the reliability of the generated text.
Google is requiring political ads using significant AI content to have warning labels like:
- “This image does not depict real events.”
- “This video content was synthetically generated.”
- “This audio was computer generated.”
- “This image does not depict real events.”
Dig deeper: X (Twitter) marks its spot by bringing back political ads
The real solution is educating the public about what genAI can do, said Paul Roetzer, CEO of The Marketing AI Institute.
“Society has to level up understanding what these tools are capable of,” said Roetzer. “The average citizen has no idea that you can build an image or create a video that looks real. They are going to believe the stuff they see online, and you can’t believe anything you see online.”
Unfortunately, it may be too late for that to help with the 2024 elections. It’s important to note that this is a worldwide issue: High-stakes elections are being held in more than 50 nations this year, including the U.K., India, Mexico, Pakistan and Indonesia.
The post Can tech companies protect elections from AI-powered manipulation? appeared first on MarTech.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought about many benefits, but it also poses significant risks, particularly when it comes to the integrity of elections. As tech companies play an increasingly important role in safeguarding elections against AI-powered manipulation, it is crucial to examine their ability to do so effectively.
AI-powered manipulation refers to the use of AI technologies to influence or interfere with the outcome of an election. This can take many forms, including the spread of disinformation, the creation of deepfakes, and the targeting of voters with personalized political ads. These tactics can be highly effective in swaying public opinion and undermining the democratic process.
Tech companies, such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter, have a responsibility to prevent AI-powered manipulation from occurring on their platforms. They have taken steps to address this issue, such as implementing fact-checking measures, removing fake accounts, and banning political ads. However, the question remains: are these measures enough?
One challenge tech companies face is the sheer volume of content that is posted on their platforms every day. It is impossible for human moderators to review every piece of content, which is why AI algorithms are used to flag potentially harmful material. However, these algorithms are not perfect and can miss subtle forms of manipulation.
Another challenge is the constantly evolving nature of AI technologies. As soon as tech companies develop a way to detect and prevent one form of manipulation, bad actors find new ways to circumvent these measures. This means that tech companies must continuously update their algorithms and strategies to stay ahead of the curve.
Furthermore, tech companies must also navigate the complex issue of free speech. While they have a responsibility to prevent manipulation, they must also ensure that they are not infringing on individuals’ right to express their opinions. This balancing act can be difficult to achieve and can lead to criticism from both sides of the political spectrum.
Despite these challenges, tech companies have made progress in safeguarding elections against AI-powered manipulation. For example, Facebook has created a “war room” to monitor and respond to election-related threats in real-time. Google has implemented stricter policies around political advertising and has invested in AI technologies to detect deepfakes. Twitter has banned all political ads and has taken steps to label and remove manipulated media.
In conclusion, while tech companies have taken steps to safeguard elections against AI-powered manipulation, there is still much work to be done. The constantly evolving nature of AI technologies means that tech companies must remain vigilant and continue to update their strategies to prevent manipulation. Additionally, they must strike a balance between preventing manipulation and protecting free speech. As we move forward, it is crucial that tech companies work together with governments, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to ensure the integrity of elections in the age of AI.
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