A Shared Video Raises Concerns about AI and Politics
2024-07-30
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1A video shared on the social media service X is raising concerns about the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to mislead voters, with American elections about three months away.
2The video causing concern shows U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris saying things she did not say.
3Harris is the likely Democratic Party presidential nominee.
4The video was changed using AI tools.
5The video gained widespread attention after tech billionaire Elon Musk shared it on X last week.
6Musk did not write in his posting that the video was a parody.
7A parody is any work that imitates someone or something, with the purpose of being funny.
8People who saw the video thought it had the appearance of a real political advertisement created by the Harris campaign.
9But the video's audio has another voice that sounds like Harris but is not.
10Harris began her presidential campaign after U.S. President Joe Biden said he would no longer seek reelection.
11Biden had already gained enough delegates in primary elections to be the party's candidate.
12In the video shared by Musk, the voice that sounds like Harris says, "I, Kamala Harris, am you Democrat candidate for president..."
13It says Harris is a "diversity hire" because she is a woman and is not white.
14It also says she does not know the "first thing about running the country."
15The video uses real "Harris for President" images.
16It also contains real video of things Harris has said in the past.
17Mia Ehrenberg is a Harris campaign spokesperson.
18Ehrenberg wrote in an email to the Associated Press (AP): "We believe the American people want the real freedom, opportunity and security Vice President Harris is offering; not the fake manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump."
19The widely shared video is an example of how AI-generated images, video and audio have been used to make fun of people or to mislead the public.
20AI-generated materials have increasingly targeted politics.
21High-quality AI tools are now easier to find and use.
22Some people say there are not enough federal rules to control their use.
23Currently, states and social media services set rules for using AI for political purposes.
24The fake video of Harris raises questions about how people should deal with videos that have been changed when they are parodies or satire.
25A YouTube user known as Mr Reagan first shared the video.
26That user wrote on both YouTube and on X that the video was manipulated and that it was a parody.
27Chris Kohls, the YouTube user known as Mr Reagan, pointed an AP reporter to another YouTube video he made early Monday in answer to the reaction of the parody video.
28In the new video, Kohls confirmed he used AI to make the fake ad and argued that it was clearly a parody.
29However, Musk shared the parody ad by writing, "This is amazing."
30He also included a "laughing" emoji.
31He did not clearly state that the video is a parody.
32More than 123 million people have seen the video through Musk.
33Musk's X social media service has a feature called "community notes."
34It permits users to add context to messages that might be misleading.
35Some people using the feature have suggested that Musk's message should have said that the video was a parody.
36They say it might have violated X's policies, which bar "out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm."
37The X policy makes exceptions for memes and satire, as long as such postings do not cause "significant confusion..."
38The United States Congress has not passed a law on AI and politics.
39But federal agencies have made efforts to do so.
40The National Conference of State Legislatures says more than one-third of American states have passed their own laws regulating the use of AI in campaigns and elections.
41The U.S. elections will take place on November 5.
42I'm Ashley Thompson.
1A video shared on the social media service X is raising concerns about the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to mislead voters, with American elections about three months away. 2The video causing concern shows U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris saying things she did not say. Harris is the likely Democratic Party presidential nominee. The video was changed using AI tools. 3The video gained widespread attention after tech billionaire Elon Musk shared it on X last week. Musk did not write in his posting that the video was a parody. A parody is any work that imitates someone or something, with the purpose of being funny. 4People who saw the video thought it had the appearance of a real political advertisement created by the Harris campaign. But the video's audio has another voice that sounds like Harris but is not. 5Harris began her presidential campaign after U.S. President Joe Biden said he would no longer seek reelection. Biden had already gained enough delegates in primary elections to be the party's candidate. 6In the video shared by Musk, the voice that sounds like Harris says, "I, Kamala Harris, am you Democrat candidate for president..." It says Harris is a "diversity hire" because she is a woman and is not white. It also says she does not know the "first thing about running the country." The video uses real "Harris for President" images. It also contains real video of things Harris has said in the past. 7Mia Ehrenberg is a Harris campaign spokesperson. Ehrenberg wrote in an email to the Associated Press (AP): "We believe the American people want the real freedom, opportunity and security Vice President Harris is offering; not the fake manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump." 8The widely shared video is an example of how AI-generated images, video and audio have been used to make fun of people or to mislead the public. AI-generated materials have increasingly targeted politics. 9High-quality AI tools are now easier to find and use. Some people say there are not enough federal rules to control their use. Currently, states and social media services set rules for using AI for political purposes. 10The fake video of Harris raises questions about how people should deal with videos that have been changed when they are parodies or satire. 11A YouTube user known as Mr Reagan first shared the video. That user wrote on both YouTube and on X that the video was manipulated and that it was a parody. 12Chris Kohls, the YouTube user known as Mr Reagan, pointed an AP reporter to another YouTube video he made early Monday in answer to the reaction of the parody video. In the new video, Kohls confirmed he used AI to make the fake ad and argued that it was clearly a parody. 13However, Musk shared the parody ad by writing, "This is amazing." He also included a "laughing" emoji. He did not clearly state that the video is a parody. 14More than 123 million people have seen the video through Musk. 15Musk's X social media service has a feature called "community notes." It permits users to add context to messages that might be misleading. Some people using the feature have suggested that Musk's message should have said that the video was a parody. They say it might have violated X's policies, which bar "out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm." 16The X policy makes exceptions for memes and satire, as long as such postings do not cause "significant confusion..." 17The United States Congress has not passed a law on AI and politics. But federal agencies have made efforts to do so. The National Conference of State Legislatures says more than one-third of American states have passed their own laws regulating the use of AI in campaigns and elections. 18The U.S. elections will take place on November 5. 19I'm Ashley Thompson. 20Ali Swenson reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. 21_____________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23parody -n. any artistic work that imitates the style or behavior of another person with the purpose of being funny 24diversity -n. the condition of including many different kinds of things 25manipulated -adj. changed in some way for a specific purpose 26satire -n. a way of using humor to show that someone or something is foolish 27feature -n. a quality, part or ability of a product that is worth noting 28context -n. the additional information necessary to understand a piece of writing, video, sound or an image 29confuse -v. to use language or images to prevent people from understanding something 30meme -n. an image that spreads quickly and becomes popular with certain people 31We want to hear from you. 32Our comment policy is here.