DeepSummary
The episode discusses the use of deepfakes, which are artificial intelligence-generated audio or video content designed to mimic real people, in the 2024 presidential election. A political consultant named Steve Kramer created an audio deepfake of President Biden urging voters not to vote in the New Hampshire primary, claiming it was meant to warn about the dangers of deepfakes.
The episode also covers a video deepfake created by a local Arizona newsletter called the Arizona Agenda, which depicted Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake promoting the newsletter while acknowledging the video was fake. The creators claim it was intended to educate people about the increasing sophistication of deepfake technology.
Experts weigh in on the potential for deepfakes to be used for good purposes, such as increasing voter participation or generating content in multiple languages, but also raise concerns about the potential for misuse and the spread of misinformation or disinformation, even if the initial intent was benign.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Deepfakes, which are AI-generated audio or video content designed to mimic real people, were used in the 2024 presidential election, with examples of audio and video deepfakes created by political actors claiming educational intent.
- While some argue that deepfakes can be used for good purposes, such as increasing voter participation or generating content in multiple languages, there are concerns about the potential for misuse and the spread of misinformation or disinformation.
- Even if deepfakes are initially created with benign intent, such as satire or raising awareness, they can still have harmful consequences and be co-opted by bad actors to spread disinformation.
- Experts emphasize the importance of media literacy and being able to distinguish deepfakes from real content, as the technology becomes increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect.
- The use of deepfakes in the 2024 election highlights the potential implications of this emerging technology on the democratic process and the need for regulations or guidelines around its use.
- There is a debate around the intent behind deepfakes and whether that intent should be considered when evaluating their impact or potential harm.
- The episode raises questions about who gets to decide what constitutes a "good" or "bad" use of deepfakes and the ethical considerations around the technology.
- The episode highlights the importance of media literacy and critical thinking skills in navigating the increasing prevalence of deepfakes and other forms of synthetic media.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “Someone can always claim, oh, this was just supposed to be funny. But when those videos get taken out of context, or when they're actively pushed out in a way that's ambiguous, that's where some of this miss and disinformation really gets going.“ by Kimberly Adams
- “If someone creates something that they think is funny, and then someone who has ill intent takes that clip and pushes it out as a real thing. That's where it gets from sort of playing around with AI to actual disinformation.“ by Kimberly Adams
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Episode Information
Marketplace Tech
Marketplace
4/2/24
It was an early attempt to use artificial intelligence in the 2024 presidential election: Ahead of January’s New Hampshire primary, a deepfake audio recording of President Joe Biden made it to some voters in the form of a robocall, encouraging them to save their vote. A political consultant named Steve Kramer said he orchestrated that call to show the dangers of deepfakes. Nevertheless, it caused real confusion. And there are a lot of deepfakes out there, including videos, that contend they are educational or parodies. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali and Kimberly Adams discuss video deepfakes and whether the intent behind them outweighs their overall impact.