ELECTIONS, POLITICS, & GOVERNMENT
Artificial intelligence joins politics for 2024 presidential race. Can you spot the fake?
Sep 13, 2023, 5:57 PM | Updated: Sep 14, 2023, 11:14 pm
FILE - Text from the ChatGPT page of the OpenAI website is shown in this photo, in New York, Feb. 2, 2023. Anthropic, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and other major developers of AI systems known as large language models say they're hard at work to make them more truthful. (Richard Drew, Associated Press)
(Richard Drew, Associated Press)
SALT LAKE CITY — Artificial intelligence has plugged itself into politics in the race for the White House.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a 2024 presidential candidate, has launched an artificial intelligence chatbot to answer questions about him and his campaign, according to the Associated Press.
“Hi, I’m AI Francis Suarez,” the bot says, its mouth moving in a way that’s not quite human. “You’ve probably heard that my namesake, conservative Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, is running for president. I’m here to answer questions you may have about Mayor Suarez’s proven agenda for economic prosperity, cutting spending and supporting our police. So, how can I help?”
In another instance of AI in American politics, radio stations in two early voting states are running an ad that features AI-generated voices of Republican presidential candidates Tim Scott and Nikki Haley. The ad is called “Who’s more woke, Nikki Haley or Tim Scott.”
So how do consumers spot something that’s real and something that may be artificial intelligence?
Is it real or artificial intelligence?
Nexus IT CEO Earl Foote told KSL NewsRadio that the shorter the clips, the harder it is to tell.
In the radio spot mentioned above, Foote said the sound bites are so short it’s hard to determine authenticity with the naked eye (or ear).
He said longer sound bites can reveal the presence of artificial intelligence. If the audio is mistake-free, monotonous, formal, and without pauses, it is probably artificial intelligence.
There are also tools available to help spot artificial intelligence and disinformation.
Intel’s FakeCatcher claims its technology can detect fake videos with a 96% accuracy rate. Microsoft’s Video Authenticator is designed to “analyze a still photo or video to provide a percentage chance, or confidence score, that the media is artificially manipulated.”
Foote acknowledged that those tools will not help detect artificial-intelligence-generated phone calls, political or otherwise. Adding to the complexity, he said, artificial intelligence can dialog with a human in real-time.
If, on the other hand, the audio has breaks, stutters and stumbles, and you can hear background noises, it is likely a human speaking.
Finally, he advised listening for human emotion and inflection in the audio.
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