Elon Musk is under fire for violating his own policies on his social media platform, X. Musk put up a fake video of Vice President Kamala Harris using artificial intelligence (AI).
The video uses an AI voice which mimics Harris to spew insults about President Biden and the Harris campaign. In the video, the voice is calling Biden “senile” and Harris the “ultimate diversity hire”.
The video also has no disclaimer saying that it is using AI. The original post is from the account of @MrReaganUSA where it is stated that it is a parody. However, in his own post, Musk does not say so. Therefore, Musk himself is publishing misleading media.
The Harris campaign took Musk to task over the video. “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,” said campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg in an email.
California governor Gavin Newsom also expressed his disdain saying that such videos should be illegal.
“Manipulating a voice in an ‘ad’ like this one should be illegal. I’ll be signing a bill in a matter of weeks to make sure of it,” posted Newsom on X.
Musk’s reply to Newsom’s comment was that “parody is legal”.
He wrote, “I checked with renowned world authority, Professor Suggon Deeznutz, and he said parody is legal in America.”
The video is quite jarring and starts off with the AI voice copying Kamala Harris saying;
”I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate. I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire. I’m both a woman and a person of color, so if you criticize anything I say, you’re both sexist and racist.”
The video is precisely the reason why there is much concern about the use of AI and deepfake technology in political advertisements. Because the theme is familiar, the content may come across as believable by anyone who is watching it.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) put forward a proposal last week requiring advertisers to disclose the use of AI in advertisements on TV and radio.
“Bad actors are already using AI technology in robocalls to mislead consumers and misinform the public. That’s why we want to put in place rules that empower consumers to avoid this junk and make informed decisions,” said FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel.