Last month, dozens of prominent U.S. government and state officials, advocacy groups and executives from major tech companies gathered in New York to participate in an important mock election exercise.
The wargaming exercise simulated a hypothetical crisis in which AI-generated photos and videos were published on social media just before the 2024 election. The images show Florida election officials tossing out ballots in an apparent attempt to manipulate the election results.
If a deepfake election crisis actually occurs, and there is good reason to believe it will, Trump’s enemies will be ready to take advantage of it.
The simulation also included a phone call to an elderly voter in Arizona using an AI-generated voice. The appeal asked older voters to stay away from polling places, citing threats from extremist militias.
Participants role-played how the Biden administration should respond to a simulated deepfake event. They gathered in a mock “White House Situation Room,” with each player taking on the role of a prominent figure in government, civil society, or corporate America, including the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, major technology companies, and even the CIA. .
Participants had a lengthy discussion about how the government should deal with the issue, including whether Joe Biden should get personally involved, saying, It became one of the discussions. According to a report from NBC News. Participants appeared concerned that anything Biden said would be used as evidence that he was trying to rig the election in his favor.
Organizers called the event “The Deepfake Dilemma.” (The term “deepfake” refers to AI-generated content that looks and sounds so realistic that it can trick people into believing it’s real.)
The deepfake dilemma is part of a larger effort across the country to prepare for the 2024 deepfake election crisis, and it should really scare you.
potential catastrophe
There is no question that AI-generated content has the potential to influence the 2024 election. If deepfake images, audio clips, or videos are created at the right time, they can cause significant confusion among voters and even influence how individuals decide to vote. The danger is real.
For example, imagine how a deepfake audio clip of Donald Trump talking to Vladimir Putin about ending the war in Ukraine could be used to sway the election in Joe Biden’s favor. It’s not difficult. This is especially true if such clips were released just before Election Day.
Election deepfakes have not always received media attention, but the pace at which they are released has increased rapidly in recent years, both in the United States and abroad.
For example, just before the New Hampshire Democratic primary, a deepfake robocall featuring an AI-generated voice of Joe Biden urged people to stay home to protect their votes in the general election.of robocall scheme It was the work of Steve Cramer, a longtime Democratic operative.
As the 2023 Chicago mayoral election heats up, unknown villains Released AI-generated audio of Paul Vallas. At the time, Barras was seen as the front-runner in the election. Audio posted online by a fake news website called Chicago Lakefront News shows Vallas saying at the time that police officers could have killed 17 or 18 people and “no one would bat an eye.” seems to be saying. The audio clip also suggests the city should start “defunding the police.”
Vallas lost the mayoral race to far-left candidate Brandon Johnson. It’s unlikely that audio was the main reason for Valas’s defeat, but no one knows how big an impact it had.
At risk in 2024
The threat of a deepfake election crisis in 2024 is real, but a bigger threat to a fair election is that anti-Trump groups could use election deepfakes to keep President Trump from the White House. Thing.
NBC News Participants in the Deepfake Dilemma War Game and other “nonprofits and good government organizations” are working to “help local governments detect deepfakes in real time and take actions such as: “We are actively working to build a nationwide network of officials, technical experts, and others.” Accurate information. ”
Were it not for the fact that most of those involved appear to be strongly biased against Donald Trump, raising serious questions about whether they will use future deepfake events to benefit Joe Biden. Well, that might be a good thing.
One of the participants at the event was Kathryn Boockvar, a Democrat who served as Pennsylvania’s secretary of state in the 2020 presidential election.trump camp sued In 2020, Boockvard’s office alleged that state and local officials violated election laws.
Another participant was MSNBC anchor Alex Witt, an outspoken critic of President Trump.
Additionally, one of the key groups behind this effort is a nonprofit organization called Issue One. Issue One’s CEO is joining the war games and working nationwide for better “election integrity” laws.
Issue One promotes itself as “bipartisan,” but it has directly opposed President Trump many times. Many Republicans in the group also openly oppose President Trump.
On that website, The pride of the first issue It said it “helped lead a push in Congress to establish a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.” He also praised the Count Every Vote initiative, a “campaign to protect the integrity of the 2020 election.”
Another key figure in the growing deepfake election network is Myles Taylor. organizer A look at the events in March. Taylor is an ardent opponent of President Trump and has strong ties to the national security industry. Taylor served as chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security in the Trump administration. While still in office, he anonymously published his infamous book. Editorial insideThe New York Times headline was “I’m part of the resistance in the Trump administration.”
In the Times article, Taylor painted a bleak picture of Trump and his motives, routinely hurling insults at his boss while hiding behind an anonymous byline.
For example, Taylor wrote that “Trump’s impulses are generally anti-trade and anti-democratic” and that his leadership style is “impulsive, adversarial, narrow-minded, and ineffective.”
Does any of this seem like a nonpartisan person?
Do they seem like the people who should be responsible for providing guidance to lawmakers and election officials in the event of a serious deepfake election crisis?
If the crisis develops, do you believe that Taylor and others won’t use it as an opportunity to benefit Joe Biden?
Just to be clear, I am do not have Anti-Trump forces say they plan to launch a false flag deepfake operation during or before the 2024 election. But if a deepfake election crisis actually occurs, and there is good reason to think it will, those who hate Trump will be ready to take advantage of it. They are working tirelessly to put the infrastructure in place to give them the best chance of controlling the narrative.
With all this in mind, you might wonder how conservatives are preparing.
As far as I know, that’s not the case.
