Jesus might not be the first person you associate with Trump. You also might not consider an 80 year old likely to subdue a tiger in a fight. Yet Trump has indeed posted both images through the use of AI.
AI is not just confined to Trump’s X profile, nor even the USA. It recently confirmed its place in the UK’s political sphere too, after the Tories’ AI-generated “Bayeux Tapestry” depicted Labour’s failings throughout their time in government since Starmer’s election.
This mixing of AI and politics is something we should be deeply suspicious of. A 2022 study found that “informing participants about deepfakes did not enhance participants’” ability to successfully spot manipulated videos but consistently induced them to believe the videos they watched were fake, even when they were real.
This poses a real threat to trust in our politicians, and, as AI grows harder to spot, may well get out of control. An electorate that feels it cannot trust its own news sources, even if they are completely true, may turn to the extreme — or not vote at all.
This problem has grown beyond an individual level. The New York Times published an article titled: ‘A campaign aide didn’t write that email. A.I. did,’ illustrating just how much influence AI has gained in campaign strategies. This is not just confined to the US, either — the Indian government, facing large amounts of deepfakes, said that AI tools “threaten the integrity of the electoral process.”
Has this problem finally reached the UK in the form of the Conservatives’ AI generated “Bayeux Tapestry”? If it has, it is in its earliest stages, at least in the public eye. However, it will inevitably bring up questions from an electorate trained to question everything they see online. If AI was used to create the tapestry, was it also used to come up with the idea? How about the images it chose to depict? When MPs do not have to disclose AI usage to generate speeches or even to create campaign advertisements, how do we know that their speeches are not the words of ChatGPT?
The problem is not just that we risk being tricked by content, or being campaigned at by a chatbot via email. We also risk questioning everything, even if it is completely true. Currently, only 11 per cent of Britons find government ministers trustworthy. Trust, clearly, is already horrifically low — surely mixing these two spheres will only add fuel to the fire? After all, who knows if ChatGPT will soon be advising your next prime minister about your future?
Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash.
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AI and Politics: A recipe for distrust
Jesus might not be the first person you associate with Trump. You also might not consider an 80 year old likely to subdue a tiger in a fight. Yet Trump has indeed posted both images through the use of AI.
AI is not just confined to Trump’s X profile, nor even the USA. It recently confirmed its place in the UK’s political sphere too, after the Tories’ AI-generated “Bayeux Tapestry” depicted Labour’s failings throughout their time in government since Starmer’s election.
This mixing of AI and politics is something we should be deeply suspicious of. A 2022 study found that “informing participants about deepfakes did not enhance participants’” ability to successfully spot manipulated videos but consistently induced them to believe the videos they watched were fake, even when they were real.
This poses a real threat to trust in our politicians, and, as AI grows harder to spot, may well get out of control. An electorate that feels it cannot trust its own news sources, even if they are completely true, may turn to the extreme — or not vote at all.
This problem has grown beyond an individual level. The New York Times published an article titled: ‘A campaign aide didn’t write that email. A.I. did,’ illustrating just how much influence AI has gained in campaign strategies. This is not just confined to the US, either — the Indian government, facing large amounts of deepfakes, said that AI tools “threaten the integrity of the electoral process.”
Has this problem finally reached the UK in the form of the Conservatives’ AI generated “Bayeux Tapestry”? If it has, it is in its earliest stages, at least in the public eye. However, it will inevitably bring up questions from an electorate trained to question everything they see online. If AI was used to create the tapestry, was it also used to come up with the idea? How about the images it chose to depict? When MPs do not have to disclose AI usage to generate speeches or even to create campaign advertisements, how do we know that their speeches are not the words of ChatGPT?
To be English is not to be white
The problem is not just that we risk being tricked by content, or being campaigned at by a chatbot via email. We also risk questioning everything, even if it is completely true. Currently, only 11 per cent of Britons find government ministers trustworthy. Trust, clearly, is already horrifically low — surely mixing these two spheres will only add fuel to the fire? After all, who knows if ChatGPT will soon be advising your next prime minister about your future?
Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash.
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