As former President Donald Trump seeks the support of black voters, some of his supporters have also begun targeting black voters with fake images. BBC Panorama.
The news organization reported on Monday that it had discovered dozens of deepfakes depicting Black people supporting the former president.
In one AI-generated image, conservative radio host Mark Kaye and his team created an image of President Trump with his arms around a group of black women. Kay shared the image on social media, where she has more than 1 million followers, according to the BBC.
In another photo discovered by the BBC, a user identified as “Shaggy” shows President Trump in front of a house with a group of young black men. The photo was also posted on social media, where it received thousands of likes and 1.4 million views.
But AI-generated images can show telltale signs of the technology, such as missing fingers on some people’s hands.
Advances in AI are raising concerns about how it might be used in politics.
In January, AI generated robocall President Biden told New Hampshire voters not to vote in the primary because it was “a ton of malarkey.” The fake call urged voters to “save your vote for the November election.”
new the study AI chatbots were found to be providing false information to voters. In one instance, Meta’s Llama 2 responded with a false message saying voters in California could vote by texting her.
Trump campaign officials told The Hill that the campaign was not involved in the images discovered by the BBC.
“The only people using AI to interfere in elections are President Trump’s opponents,” a campaign source said. “The Trump campaign has nothing to do with these AI images, nor does it have any control over what others create and post.”
Trump is courting black voters, especially black men.
He argued last month that criminal charges against him were appealing because Black voters understand discrimination, a comment that quickly drew criticism from Black leaders and Biden.
President Trump has also started selling sneakers, displaying them at sneaker con events, and has named both Rep. Byron Donald (R-Fla.) and Sen. Tim Scott (South Carolina) as his running mate. He hints that he is considering it.
Kay, one of the creators of the image, told the BBC that she never told her followers that the image was real.
“I’m not a photojournalist,” Kay said. “I’m not taking pictures of what’s actually happening. I’m a storyteller.”
“I don’t claim that’s accurate. I’m not saying, ‘Hey, look, Donald Trump was at this party with all the African-American voters.’ Look how much they love him!” he added. “If someone votes because of a photo they saw on his Facebook page, that’s the person’s problem, not the post itself.”
Congress has yet to pass legislation regulating AI in politics.
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