AI Deepfakes Cause Big Concerns for Voters, Experts Say in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE, July 15, 2024 – AI generated content of political candidates is a big concern for voters this election cycle.

That was the message of Microsoft Tech Advisors Ashley O’Rourke and Ginny Badanes during a Monday bipartisan presentation on AI disinformation at the GOP Convention here until Thursday.

Citing a survey conducted by Defending Digital Campaigns and the computer software company Yubico, O’Rourke said that 78% of voters are concerned about AI generated content being used to impersonate a political candidate.

“It’s causing [voters] to distrust potentially authentic content and authentic communications,” O’Rourke said.

The two representatives gave a bipartisan presentation hosted by the non-profit advocacy group All In Together.

Badanes cautioned that if not properly addressed, the potential impact of AI deepfakes on the upcoming presidential election could be devastating. 

Badanes said that the recent high-profile case of deepfaking in New Hampshire – where AI was used to impersonate President Joe Biden on robocalls to dissuade Democratic party members from voting in the primary – was far from the worst-case scenario for election interference.

Badanes offered an example from Slovakia in Eastern Europe where, just days before a parliamentary election in February, a deepfaked audio that falsely attributed damaging words to a candidate went viral. Badanes said that because there was no way to correct the misinformation in time, the audio might have been the cause of the candidate's eventual defeat.

“There wasn't enough time and there wasn't the infrastructure setup to respond to it. As we look forward to the 2024 US election, that’s the scenario that concerns me,” Badanes said.

Badanes said that because of the increasing sophistication of AI, both Republican and Democratic party officials have taken the potential harm to their campaigns more seriously than ever before.

O’Rourke said Microsoft and other tech companies have shifted toward providing authentication of real content, rather than tracking deepfakes. O’Rourke said her team has been working to encrypt metadata into its content to prove its legitimacy.

O’Rourke said the RNC has employed this technology, adding certificates of authenticity to its content.

Badanes endorsed recent state bills that require disclosure of AI in campaign material. Wisconsin, the host state of the GOP Convention, imposed a $1,000 fine per disclaimer violation.