Washington— Images of former President Donald Trump surrounded by Black people smiling and laughing online seem normal, but a deeper look reveals more.
The odd lighting and exquisite details indicate they were created by AI. Trump is trying to win over Black voters who surveys suggest are loyal to President Joe Biden. The photographs are unrelated to the campaign.
The BBC's research into the manufactured photographs supports predictions that AI-generated imagery may proliferate as the November general election approaches. Experts warn that any group—Latinos, women, older male voters—could be targeted with lifelike visuals to mislead and confuse, highlighting the need for technology control.
The BBC's research into the manufactured photographs supports predictions that AI-generated imagery may proliferate as the November general election approaches. Experts warn that any group—Latinos, women, older male voters—could be targeted with lifelike visuals to mislead and confuse, highlighting the need for technology control.
The organization Center for Countering Digital Hate utilized three popular AI applications to demonstrate how easy it is to generate convincing deepfakes that can trick voters in a paper released this week. The researchers generated visuals of Trump meeting with Russian operatives, Biden stuffing a ballot box, and armed militia members at polling stations, even though many AI algorithms state they don't allow this.
At least one recent deepfake of Trump and Black voters was comedy, but Trump fans were sharing it as proof of his support among Blacks, according to the center. Center CEO and founder Imran Ahmed said social media and AI businesses must do more to shield people from AI's harms.
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, then these dangerously susceptible image generators, coupled with mainstream social media's dismal content moderation efforts, represent as powerful a tool for bad actors to mislead voters as we've ever seen,” Ahmed said “This is a wake-up call for AI companies, social media platforms, and lawmakers—act now or risk American democracy.”
Both the right and left worried that the photographs could misrepresent the former president's support among African Americans. Some in Trump's camp are frustrated by the false photos, fearing they hurt Republican outreach to Black voters.
STAY TURNED FOR DEVELOPMENT