How AI Is Already Impacting the 2024 Presidential Election
How AI Is Already Impacting the 2024 Presidential Election
AI Could Be Used to Sway the Election
Currently, Joe Biden has a significant lead over his two main rivals, Republicans Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, with a 40% probability of winning the presidential race. It’s historically common for existing presidents to win a second term, so this is no surprise. In fact, only ten ex-presidents, including Donald Trump, have failed to achieve a second term in office.
However, presidents tend to fare much worse in their second term in office than their first. For example, Barack Obama all but lost his ability to influence the legislature after suffering the biggest Democrat loss of power since Dwight D. Eisenhower. This meant he could not act on the pervasive gun control issues at the time.
But as artificial intelligence continues permeating all aspects of life, from business to politics, history may be about to change, with an AI-shaped curve ball headed toward the 2024 presidential election.
How Could AI Be Used to Sway an Election?
Campaign runners recognize that there are two sides to the AI coin. One side is terrifyingly destructive, while the other is invaluable to the running of election campaigns. However, both sides could be used to sway an election; here’s how:
Deepfake Smears: Campaign professionals fear the use of AI-generated deepfake content that could be used to smear election candidates. For example, falsely incriminating video and audio recordings could be created that are indistinguishable from reality, destroying a candidate's reputation.
Technocratic Culture: At this moment in time, only a few companies have access to the resources required to properly run and maintain artificial intelligence models. This means these companies have the power to use AI to create and share information as they see fit and as per their political leanings. For instance, a left-learning AI company could train its chatbot to provide users with information that favors a left-wing presidential candidate.
Better Voter Targeting: AI has found itself a home in marketing, thanks to its ability to analyze large data sets and offer insightful information about consumer behaviors. Similarly, AI can be used to better target voters, effectively advertising to swing voters.
Admin Automation: Presidential campaigns may not always appear as a business, but they run much like a corporation trying to promote a product. As with any sizable business, administration tasks are required to ensure it runs smoothly. AI can automate admin tasks, freeing up resources.
Fear of Deepfake Political Content
Of all the concerns AI brings surrounding the 2024 presidential election, deep fakes are at the top of the list. An excellent–and worrying–example of deepfakes already being used is a recently surfaced video of Hilary Clinton supposedly endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ candidacy.
As the above video explains, the surfaced video is a deepfake, and Hilary Clinton has never publicly endorsed Ron DeSantis. This is problematic because Hilary’s endorsement could have a significant bearing on the way people vote. For example, Hilary supporters might choose to cast their vote for a Republican, trusting her judgment, instead of another Democratic candidate.
Considering that Clinton and DeSantis have highly differing political views, it’s easy to see how deepfakes like this could cause large-scale issues, tricking people into voting for an ideology with which they disagree.
Are you worried about the impact of AI on American and global politics? Let us know your thoughts.
OpenAI’s CEO Publicly Worries About AI and Elections
In an appearance before Congress, OpenAI’s CEO and creator, Sam Alter, admitted his concerns regarding the impact of AI on society and elections. For those of you who don’t know, OpenAI is the company behind the AI chatbot, ChatGPT, which has sparked increased interest in AI development over the past few months.
Altman said:
“...as this technology advances, we understand that people are anxious about how it could change the way we live. We are too.”
Machine learning specialist Gary Marcus also threw his apprehensive hat in the ring during his own testimonial:
"Fundamentally, these new systems are going to be destabilizing [...] They can and will create persuasive lies at a scale humanity has never seen before. Outsiders will use them to affect our elections, insiders to manipulate our markets and our political systems. Democracy itself is threatened."
These fears stem from AIs ability to target voters and even manipulate their behavior with precision, accuracy and efficacy, ultimately having the potential to swing elections.
What Precautions Are Being Taken by Lawmakers?
In the AI Business Report, we’ve previously discussed impending regulations. You can read all about the coming wave of AI regulation here:
Since this article’s publication nearly two months ago, however, little progress has been made in terms of AI regulation. This is because only a small percentage of proposed bills actually become law. In fact, between 2017 and 2019, just 4.5% of proposed bills were made into law.
With such a complex and divisive topic as artificial intelligence, it’s likely that an AI regulation bill will need to undergo many revisions before being passed into law. As a result, it could be a while before any significant changes are made to prevent AI from impacting the 2024 election.
Thanks for reading.
If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe to receive email notifications whenever we post.
AI Business Report is brought to you by Californian development agency, Idea Maker.