by Mary Lou Masters
Republicans and Democrats are entering an arms race to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in upcoming 2024 campaigns to complete simple, daily tasks previously accomplished by droves of interns, according to The New York Times.
Both parties are racing to develop AI technology to carry out basic functions like advertising, writing and sending out personalized campaign statements, predicting public opinion and analyzing voter behavior, the NYT reported. The use of AI in political campaigns comes with worry of disinformation as deep fakes continue to mount across the internet.
“A.I. is about to make a significant change in the 2024 election because of machine learning’s predictive ability,” former President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign manager and founder of a digital company that utilizes AI technology, Brad Parscale, told the NYT.
Recent deep fake images of Trump being arrested in connection to the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation into the former president’s alleged hush money payments to porn star actress Stormy Daniels have gone viral on social media. Deep fake photos of Pope Francis wearing a puffy white jacket have also made headwinds across the internet.
“Unfortunately, I think people are going to figure out how to use this for evil faster than for improving civic life,” chief strategist for Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren‘s 2020 campaign and current digital consultant, Joe Rospars, told the NYT.
AI technology is expected to draft emails and texts for fundraising solicitations, which the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has already experimented with, the NYT reported. The DNC’s test runs of using AI generated messages have been more effective than any copy written by humans, three sources familiar with the efforts told the NYT.
Several political strategists worry that AI chatbots could waste campaign staffers’ time if individuals misrepresent themselves as voters, they told the NYT. Others are pondering the idea of making deep fake content of their own candidates to promote personalized messages, like thanking donors.
Some consultants fear AI could be weaponized in 2024 by sending direct voice messages to voters the day before an election, they told the NYT.
Twitter, via AI deep fakes, has created an entire storyline of trump waiting for the feds at mar-a-lago, getting arrested and now taking over the NYPD.
Incredible. pic.twitter.com/t6cO0KO3e8
— Savanah Hernandez (@sav_says_) March 23, 2023
AI was already used in the 2020 election when President Joe Biden’s campaign used the technology to automatically transcribe debates and other live events, replacing the need for many interns and staffers, according to the NYT.
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Mary Lou Masters is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Vote Here Sign” by Chad Davis. CC BY-SA 2.0.
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