“High Stakes” Campaigns Will Continue To Be Affected By Generative AI, Says Hany Farid

AI deepfakes in campaigns may be detectable, but will it matter?

By Jim Saska

At some point in the months leading up to the 2024 election, a tape will leak that will confirm voters’ worst fears about President Joe Biden. The audio, a bit grainy and muffled as if it was recorded from a phone in someone’s pocket, will have the 80-year-old sounding confused, perhaps seeming to forget that he’s president, before turning murderously angry. It may arrive in journalists’ inboxes from an anonymous whistleblower, or just go viral on social media.

Or maybe the uproar will be over audio of former President Donald Trump saying something that his supporters find disqualifying...

“Campaigns are high stakes,” said Hany Farid, a generative AI expert at the University of California, Berkeley. “We know that we have state-sponsored actors interfering, we know the campaigns are going to play dirty tricks. We know the trolls are going to do it. We know the supporters are going to do it. We know the PACs are going to do it...”

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