'Deepfake' of Biden's Voice Called Early Example of US Election Disinformation
2024-01-25
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1A fake voice message claiming to be U.S. President Joe Biden was recently sent to voters in an example of possible election disinformation.
2The voice message is an example of what is known as a "deepfake."
3A "deepfake" is a piece of audio or video created to make it appear that people in it are saying or doing things that they never did.
4Newly developed artificial intelligence (AI) tools make it easier for people to make and publish such content.
5The fake voice of Biden was included in a political message sent by telephone directly to voters in the northeastern state of New Hampshire.
6This marketing method, known as "robocalling," involves a machine that calls large numbers of people to play them a prerecorded message.
7The calls are being investigated by New Hampshire election officials.
8The state recently held America's first presidential primary contest.
9Primary elections in the United States usually choose the candidates for the presidential election in November.
10It is not known who created the fake audio, which was heard by reporters from several news organizations.
11In it, Biden seems to try to persuade voters not to take part in the primary.
12The voice says, "Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again."
13The message continues, "Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday."
14Voting in state primaries does not affect a person's vote later in the U.S. presidential election, which is set for November 5, 2024.
15The Biden robocalls even included language the U.S. president has often used in the past, specifically the phrase, "What a bunch of malarkey."
16The phrase is used to describe something foolish, unreasonable or meaningless.
17The phone message advises listeners to "save your vote for the November election."
18It is not known how many people received the call with Biden's voice.
19Biden did not campaign in New Hampshire and his name was not on the state's primary ballot.
20This is because his campaign decided to begin the primary process in the state of South Carolina instead.
21However, a New Hampshire state law requires it to hold the nation's first primary.
22White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed the call was "fake and not recorded by the president."
23The campaign for former President Donald Trump said it was not involved with the call.
24The head of Biden's re-election campaign, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, said in a statement the organization was investigating the incident and "actively discussing additional actions to take."
25Rodriguez said the robocall was a clear attempt "to suppress voting and deliberately undermine free and fair elections."
26Robert Weissman is head of the nonprofit citizen activist group Public Citizen.
27He said in a statement the Biden robocall provided fresh evidence that "the political deepfake moment is here."
28He urged governments to consider passing legislation to limit the use of deepfakes to prevent election "chaos."
29Deepfakes created with AI technology have already appeared in campaign advertisements in the 2024 presidential race, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
30The technology has also been used to spread false information during election campaigns across the world, from Slovakia to Indonesia to Taiwan.
31Hany Farid is a digital investigations expert at the University of California, Berkeley.
32He told the AP the Biden robocall demonstrates how AI methods can be "weaponized" in elections.
33Farid added that recent cases of audio and video used to mislead voters "is surely a sign of things to come."
34As AI technologies improve, governments around the world are seeking ways to restrict them from causing public harm.
35The U.S. Congress has yet to pass legislation to limit the use of such technologies in the political process.
36The Federal Election Commission is currently considering public comments on a petition for it to restrict AI-created deepfakes in campaign advertisements.
37David Becker heads the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research.
38He told the AP the use of deepfakes is just the latest tool in a long history of "dirty tricks" aimed at influencing the political process.
39Becker added that the goal of such efforts can be to confuse voters to a point where they no longer recognize false information from the truth.
40"They don't need to convince us that what they're saying, the lies they're telling us, are true," he said.
41"They just need to convince us that there is no truth, that you can't believe anything you're told."
42I'm Bryan Lynn.
1A fake voice message claiming to be U.S. President Joe Biden was recently sent to voters in an example of possible election disinformation. 2The voice message is an example of what is known as a "deepfake." A "deepfake" is a piece of audio or video created to make it appear that people in it are saying or doing things that they never did. Newly developed artificial intelligence (AI) tools make it easier for people to make and publish such content. 3The fake voice of Biden was included in a political message sent by telephone directly to voters in the northeastern state of New Hampshire. This marketing method, known as "robocalling," involves a machine that calls large numbers of people to play them a prerecorded message. 4The calls are being investigated by New Hampshire election officials. The state recently held America's first presidential primary contest. Primary elections in the United States usually choose the candidates for the presidential election in November. 5It is not known who created the fake audio, which was heard by reporters from several news organizations. In it, Biden seems to try to persuade voters not to take part in the primary. 6The voice says, "Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again." The message continues, "Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday." 7Voting in state primaries does not affect a person's vote later in the U.S. presidential election, which is set for November 5, 2024. 8The Biden robocalls even included language the U.S. president has often used in the past, specifically the phrase, "What a bunch of malarkey." The phrase is used to describe something foolish, unreasonable or meaningless. The phone message advises listeners to "save your vote for the November election." 9It is not known how many people received the call with Biden's voice. Biden did not campaign in New Hampshire and his name was not on the state's primary ballot. This is because his campaign decided to begin the primary process in the state of South Carolina instead. However, a New Hampshire state law requires it to hold the nation's first primary. 10White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed the call was "fake and not recorded by the president." The campaign for former President Donald Trump said it was not involved with the call. 11The head of Biden's re-election campaign, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, said in a statement the organization was investigating the incident and "actively discussing additional actions to take." Rodriguez said the robocall was a clear attempt "to suppress voting and deliberately undermine free and fair elections." 12Robert Weissman is head of the nonprofit citizen activist group Public Citizen. He said in a statement the Biden robocall provided fresh evidence that "the political deepfake moment is here." He urged governments to consider passing legislation to limit the use of deepfakes to prevent election "chaos." 13Deepfakes created with AI technology have already appeared in campaign advertisements in the 2024 presidential race, the Associated Press (AP) reports. The technology has also been used to spread false information during election campaigns across the world, from Slovakia to Indonesia to Taiwan. 14Hany Farid is a digital investigations expert at the University of California, Berkeley. He told the AP the Biden robocall demonstrates how AI methods can be "weaponized" in elections. Farid added that recent cases of audio and video used to mislead voters "is surely a sign of things to come." 15As AI technologies improve, governments around the world are seeking ways to restrict them from causing public harm. The U.S. Congress has yet to pass legislation to limit the use of such technologies in the political process. The Federal Election Commission is currently considering public comments on a petition for it to restrict AI-created deepfakes in campaign advertisements. 16David Becker heads the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research. He told the AP the use of deepfakes is just the latest tool in a long history of "dirty tricks" aimed at influencing the political process. 17Becker added that the goal of such efforts can be to confuse voters to a point where they no longer recognize false information from the truth. "They don't need to convince us that what they're saying, the lies they're telling us, are true," he said. "They just need to convince us that there is no truth, that you can't believe anything you're told." 18I'm Bryan Lynn. 19Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters and online sources. 20_______________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22fake - adj. false, not true 23quest - n. an attempt to get or do something difficult 24deliberate - adj. done purposefully, or planned 25undermine - v. to lessen the effectiveness or ability of something to move forward 26chaos - n. a situation in which there is no order at all 27petition - n. to officially ask permission to do something 28confuse - v. to make someone unable to think clearly or understand something 29convince - v. to make someone believe that something is true