How Artificial Intelligence Could Manipulate the 2024 Election Cycle

Published: May 10, 2024

How Artificial Intelligence Could Manipulate the 2024 Election Cycle

By Movieguide® Contributor

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly indistinguishable from reality, experts are warning that the technology could influence the 2024 presidential election.

AI has already been used to spread false information in an attempt to manipulate voters.

“Just days before New Hampshire’s January primary, nearly 20,000 voters received a call using an AI-generated voice of President Biden, attempting to discourage them from showing up at the polls,” CBN News reported.

The voice recording said, “Voting this Tuesday only enables Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again.”

Ben Coleman, CEO of the deep-fake detection platform Reality Defender, helped to detect the fake call and is warning that the technology could become even more subtle.

“Imagine a world where that was a one-to-one attack. Where instead of it being pre-recorded, it was actually live, and instead of being from one to many, it was one-to-one, where it’s coming from your husband, your wife, your boss, saying, ‘Hey, Ben, we need you in the office at 6 a.m., I know it’s a voting day.’ Or an election official, ‘Hey, we’re moving your precinct, we need you to be across town, three hours away,” Coleman said.

While AI isn’t necessarily new, this is the first election cycle where the technology is cheap and easily accessible.

“This year is the first national American election since AI developments will allow fraudsters to produce phony but close-to-perfect pictures, video, or audio of candidates and officials doing or saying almost anything with minimal time, little to no cost, and on a widespread basis,” the Brennan Center reported. “And the technology underlying generative AI chatbots lets hoaxers spoof election websites or spawn pretend news sites in a matter of seconds and on a mammoth scale.”

“AI developments move fast, legislation must move faster, forecasting and potentially anticipating rapid improvements in the quality and application of deep fakes,” Coleman explained.

U.S. legislators have also voiced their concern over AI’s possible impact on the election.

“Congress has the power, indeed the obligation, to stop this AI nightmare,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). “There are common-sense bipartisan bills ready to go, right now. We can hold social media companies and big tech accountable for election deep-fakes and other AI-driven harms. If we leave them unchecked, deep fakes and political deceptions will sow the seeds of our destruction as a democracy.”

The U.S. Government Accountability Office explains that “Appropriate oversight will be critical to ensuring AI technologies remain effective, and keep our data safeguarded.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) added, “Both parties, the leadership needs to support an effort to get a vote, and I say, ‘an effort to get’, really they just need to schedule a vote. Let’s put these bills on the floor and let’s vote.”

TikTok is also another avenue that presidential campaigns are using to gain voters.

Movieguide® recently reported:

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion national security package that included a plan to ban TikTok in the United States.

However, the ban wouldn’t go into effect until after the 2024 Presidential election in November.

“TikTok, which boasts 170 million American users, will remain a force throughout the campaign, providing a platform for candidates to reach predominantly younger voters. An earlier version of the bill could have banned the popular video-sharing app prior to the election, but recent changes mean lawmakers and Biden may not face such an immediate voter backlash,” NBC News reported.