How political ads using A.I. could create distrust among voters

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — As the campaign trail heats up, concerns about the use of artificial intelligence to mislead voters are in the spotlight.

Last week, tech billionaire and owner of X, Elon Musk, reposed a video to his feed that sparked a debate over the use of AI in political-related content.

As of Monday evening, the video was viewed by more than 130 million X users.

“I Kamala Harris am your Democratic Candidate for President,” the video on X starts out with.

It sounds like a political ad and even looks like one – but what appears to be a campaign ad for Vice President Kamala Harris has been altered.

“There are tools out there that make it really easy to create a voiceover.  They make it really easy to create a video, to pull a couple of clips together and with a couple of YouTube videos, and sometimes, somebody could really make something that could have a significant impact,” AI ethicist Paige Lord said.

Hours after the clip was uploaded online, Lord took to her social media to start a conversation about responsible AI use.  Like the video in question, her post also went viral.

“I thought this is something that people really need to know about, and they need to have a good understanding of,” she said.

In her post, she talks about the one-minute and 25-second clip that includes real video from a Harris campaign ad that was posted to YouTube four days ago.  The altered content, reposted by Musk, shared a much different message than the original.

The clip includes a voice-over that claims to be Harris, talking about how she is a diversity hire and is too incompetent to run the country.  Nowhere in the video or post does it show a disclaimer saying it has been altered.

While parody content can be protected by the First Amendment, many argue Musk violated his own platform’s policies by sharing synthetic and manipulated media.

“The challenge there… this crosses over from parody to mis and disinformation when you can actually be fooled into thinking that this person said and did these things and that for me is where this crossed the line,” Lord said.

Lord says her critique of the video would not differ if it was aimed at a Republican candidate.  She says if videos like this continue to spread online, it could cause more division and mistrust among Americans.

“I think that it would put people in a position where they couldn’t trust anything,” Lord said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.