AI Adding to Threat of Election Disinformation Worldwide
2024-03-17
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Artificial intelligence (AI) is adding to the threat of election disinformation worldwide.
2The technology makes it easy for anyone with a smartphone and an imagination to create fake - but convincing - content aimed at fooling voters.
3Just a few years ago, fake photos, videos or audio required teams of people with time, skill and money.
4Now, free and low-cost generative artificial intelligence services from companies like Google and OpenAI permit people to create high-quality "deepfakes" with just a simple text entry.
5A wave of AI deepfakes tied to elections in Europe and Asia has already appeared on social media for months.
6It served as a warning for more than 50 countries having elections this year.
7Some recent examples of AI deepfakes include:
8- A video of Moldova's pro-Western president throwing her support behind a political party friendly to Russia.
9- Audio of Slovakia's liberal party leader discussing changing ballots and raising the price of beer.
10- A video of an opposition lawmaker in Bangladesh - a conservative Muslim majority nation - wearing a bikini.
11The question is no longer whether AI deepfakes could affect elections, but how influential they will be, said Henry Ajder, who runs a business advisory company called Latent Space Advisory in Britain.
12"You don't need to look far to see some people ... being clearly confused as to whether something is real or not," Ajder said.
13As the U.S. presidential race comes closer, Christopher Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a warning about the growing threat of generative AI.
14He said the technology makes it easy for foreign groups to attempt to have a bad influence on elections.
15With AI deepfakes, a candidate's image can be made much worse or much better.
16Voters can be moved toward or away from candidates - or even to avoid the polls altogether.
17But perhaps the greatest threat to democracy, experts say, is that the growth of AI deepfakes could hurt the public's trust in what they see and hear.
18The complexity of the technology makes it hard to find out who is behind AI deepfakes.
19Experts say governments and companies are not yet capable of stopping the problem.
20The world's biggest tech companies recently - and voluntarily - signed an agreement to prevent AI tools from disrupting elections.
21For example, the company that owns Instagram and Facebook has said it will start labeling deepfakes that appear on its services.
22But deepfakes are harder to limit on apps like Telegram, which did not sign the voluntary agreement.
23Telegram uses encrypted messages that can be difficult to uncover.
24Some experts worry that efforts to limit AI deepfakes could lead to unplanned results.
25Tim Harper is an expert at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington, DC.
26He said sometimes well-meaning governments or companies might crush the "very thin" line between political commentary and an "illegitimate attempt to smear a candidate."
27Major generative AI services have rules to limit political disinformation.
28But experts say it is too easy to defeat the restrictions or use other services.
29AI software is not the only threat.
30Candidates themselves could try to fool voters by claiming events that show them in bad situations were manufactured by AI.
31Lisa Reppell is a researcher at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems in Arlington, Virginia.
32She said, "A world in which everything is suspect - and so everyone gets to choose what they believe - is also a world that's really challenging for...democracy."
33I'm John Russell.
1Artificial intelligence (AI) is adding to the threat of election disinformation worldwide. 2The technology makes it easy for anyone with a smartphone and an imagination to create fake - but convincing - content aimed at fooling voters. 3Just a few years ago, fake photos, videos or audio required teams of people with time, skill and money. Now, free and low-cost generative artificial intelligence services from companies like Google and OpenAI permit people to create high-quality "deepfakes" with just a simple text entry. 4Expanding threats 5A wave of AI deepfakes tied to elections in Europe and Asia has already appeared on social media for months. It served as a warning for more than 50 countries having elections this year. 6Some recent examples of AI deepfakes include: 7- A video of Moldova's pro-Western president throwing her support behind a political party friendly to Russia. 8- Audio of Slovakia's liberal party leader discussing changing ballots and raising the price of beer. 9- A video of an opposition lawmaker in Bangladesh - a conservative Muslim majority nation - wearing a bikini. 10The question is no longer whether AI deepfakes could affect elections, but how influential they will be, said Henry Ajder, who runs a business advisory company called Latent Space Advisory in Britain. 11"You don't need to look far to see some people ... being clearly confused as to whether something is real or not," Ajder said. 12Challenge to democracy 13As the U.S. presidential race comes closer, Christopher Wray, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a warning about the growing threat of generative AI. He said the technology makes it easy for foreign groups to attempt to have a bad influence on elections. 14With AI deepfakes, a candidate's image can be made much worse or much better. Voters can be moved toward or away from candidates - or even to avoid the polls altogether. But perhaps the greatest threat to democracy, experts say, is that the growth of AI deepfakes could hurt the public's trust in what they see and hear. 15The complexity of the technology makes it hard to find out who is behind AI deepfakes. Experts say governments and companies are not yet capable of stopping the problem. 16The world's biggest tech companies recently - and voluntarily - signed an agreement to prevent AI tools from disrupting elections. For example, the company that owns Instagram and Facebook has said it will start labeling deepfakes that appear on its services. 17But deepfakes are harder to limit on apps like Telegram, which did not sign the voluntary agreement. Telegram uses encrypted messages that can be difficult to uncover. 18Concerns about efforts to limit AI 19Some experts worry that efforts to limit AI deepfakes could lead to unplanned results. 20Tim Harper is an expert at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington, DC. He said sometimes well-meaning governments or companies might crush the "very thin" line between political commentary and an "illegitimate attempt to smear a candidate." 21Major generative AI services have rules to limit political disinformation. But experts say it is too easy to defeat the restrictions or use other services. 22AI software is not the only threat. 23Candidates themselves could try to fool voters by claiming events that show them in bad situations were manufactured by AI. 24Lisa Reppell is a researcher at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems in Arlington, Virginia. 25She said, "A world in which everything is suspect - and so everyone gets to choose what they believe - is also a world that's really challenging for...democracy." 26I'm John Russell. 27Ali Swenson and Kelvin Chan reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 28_______________________________________ 29Words in This Story 30fake - n. not true or real 31bikini -- n. a piece of clothing in two parts that a woman wears for swimming 32label -- v. to use a word or phrase that describes or identifies something or someone 33encrypted -- v. to change (information) from one form to another 34illegitimate -- adj. not allowed according to rules or laws 35smear -- v. to make untrue statements about someone