Election Disinformation in the Age of AI

by Edward C. Baig, AARP

Whomever you intend to vote for, the potential to spread election disinformation is highly troubling, more so in this burgeoning age of generative artificial intelligence (AI), the type of AI that can churn out words, computer code, pictures and video based on text or other prompts from a user.

Seismic advancements in AI are making it more difficult for you to figure out whether an announcement from candidates and their representatives is actually from the campaigns. Supporters on the political fringes — and trolls who like to stir up trouble in general — have more tools at their disposal than ever before.

To varying degrees, candidates have always made exaggerated claims, and meddling in elections dates to the earliest days of politics. But AI-enhanced tools, amplified by the speedy and vast reach of social media, are digital carcinogens that can sow doubt about what is or isn’t factual.

“The U.S. has confronted foreign malign influence threats in the past,” FBI Director Christopher Wray remarked at a national security conference. “But this election cycle, the U.S. will face more adversaries, moving at a faster pace and enabled by new technology.”

The problem is both foreign and domestic and not just doctored text. Readily available online tools let anyone with even modest tech skills create bogus local news websites, clone voices, manipulate still photos and fabricate video that seems so authentic that it appears as if Candidate X appeared at a place he or she never set foot in and said something not ever uttered.

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