Use of AI in presidential campaign can make 2024 US elections a 'hot mess', warn experts

As the race for the White House gets intense, experts believe that the involvement of AI has the potential to make the upcoming elections a “hot mess”. While speaking to the Retort AI podcast, Nathan Lambert, a machine learning researcher at the Allen Institute for AI said that the lack of regulation in the AI sector before the 2024 elections can make things go out of hand. With the US Presidential election is less than a year away, the candidates in the race have become active participants in using the technology. 

“I don’t expect AI regulation to come in the US [in 2024] given that it’s an election year and it’s a pretty hot topic,” Lambert told the Retort AI podcast. “I think the US election will be the biggest determining factor in the narrative to see what positions different candidates take and how people misuse AI products, and how that attribution is given and how that’s handled by the media," he added. While many experts claim that the use of AI can streamline the election process, the tool being used in electoral campaigns can enable the spread of misinformation. 

How presidential candidates using AI can be problematic

In the summer of this year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' campaign used a generative AI tool that made it seem like it was former President Donald Trump reading out his own social media post. However, According to ABC News, the campaign ad did not offer any sort of disclaimer about the use of artificial voice. The Florida governor's campaign also shared AI-generated images of Trump and Dr Anthony Fauchi, however, they did not include a disclaimer that the images are fake. 

It is important to note that there are currently no federal rules that bar a presidential candidate from the using AI for their campaign. Hence, the lack of regulation has made many worry about the dangers of AI. Earlier this year, Meta updated its rules about ads during election season. The company prohibited the company from using new-gen AI advertising products. Not only this, but the technology giant also told its advertisers to disclose when AI tools are being used to alter or create election ads on Facebook. While discussing the matter on the podcast, Lambert said that it may be “impossible to keep [gen AI] information as sanitized as it needs to be” when it comes to the election narrative. He went on to urge 2024 election candidates to be cautious of the dangers of the new technology that is being used by humankind.