WASHINGTON -- With the 2024 election looming, the first since the mass popularization of generative artificial intelligence, experts feared the worst: social media flooded with AI-generated deepfakes that were so realistic, baffled voters wouldn’t know what to believe.AI is playing a major role in the presidential campaign, even if the greatest fears about how it could threaten the U.S.presidential election haven’t materialized yet.Fake AI-generated images regularly ricochet around the web, but many of them are so cartoonish and absurd that even the most naïve viewer couldn’t take them seriously.
For example, Trump and many of his allies not only repeatedly promoted the unfounded conspiracy theory that Haitian migrants are stealing and eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio, they also spread related AI-generated memes.One shared by Trump’s Truth Social account showed him on a luxury jet, surrounded by cats and white ducks.Another showed a group of kittens holding a sign that read, “DON’T LET THEM EAT US, Vote for Trump!”Francesca Tripodi, an expert in online propaganda, said such AI-made images are new, viral vehicles to carry age-old anti-immigration narratives.“The memes that are amplifying this claim are anything but humorous.
When you have elected officials who are utilizing this imagery as a way of perpetuating racism and xenophobia, that’s a huge problem,” said Tripodi, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.Republicans defend the images as lighthearted jokes — and byproducts of Trump’s personality.Trump and his supporters aren’t the only ones creating AI memes, but they appear to be using AI image generators more than their Democratic counterparts.Some left-leaning users have posted AI images making fun of billionaire Elon Musk, the owner of X and an outspoken supporter of Trump’s campaign.Democrats also posted AI-generated images of Trump in handcuffs and being chased by police when he was in court in Manhattan last year.But Kamala Harris’ campaign has not leaned into amplifying AI-generated content, sticking instead to TikTok trends and other memes that don’t require AI models to create.
“Currently, the only authorized campaign use of generative AI is for productivity tools, such as data analysis and industry-standard coding assistance,” said Harris campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg.Using fake, entertaining, often preposterous images to score political points is hardly new.But unlike cobbled-together Photoshop images or political cartoons, AI-generated images pack a stronger punch with their hyperrealism and can draw new attention to a political message.“Memes that are obviously parody are one thing.It’s another where it’s obviously intended to deceive,” said Rep.
Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and vocal Trump critic.“And we already see the Trump campaign really blurring the line.”The speed and accessibility of generative AI tools make it easy to create outlandish political content that can drive clicks and likes.With AI image generators accessible to anyone with an internet connection, they are a cheap and convenient way for campaigns to respond to online trends and hammer home a message.“Campaigns have had to deal with disinformation and misinformation for a very long time.
… It’s not a new problem.But obviously what AI allows is for this stuff to do done more rapidly, perhaps more convincingly, and in a more targeted environment,” said Teddy Goff, the digital director of Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.“I got a message from my point of contact with the president and they said: ‘The president loved the image, how did you make it? Who created it?’ And I said: ‘Oh, I did.I made that for the article,’” Ingrassia said.
“And he said, ‘Keep up the great work, he loves it.’”The use of AI for political satire and propaganda isn’t limited to the U.S.and has been observed in elections from Indonesia to the Netherlands.More sinister deepfakes also have sought to influence races around the world.In Slovakia last year, AI audio clips impersonated the liberal party chief talking about rigging the vote days before parliamentary elections.
In New Hampshire's primary in January, audio deepfakes of President Joe Biden were sent in robocalls to Democratic voters, urging them not to vote.The incident was quickly publicized and resulted in criminal charges.And some Republicans have fretted about how Trump and the GOP are using AI to create political memes.___Swenson reported from New York.___ This story is part of an Associated Press series, “The AI Campaign,” exploring the influence of artificial intelligence in the 2024 election cycle.___The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy.See more about AP’s democracy initiative here.
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