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A manipulated video that mimics the voice of\u00a0Vice President Kamala Harris<\/a>\u00a0saying things she did not say is raising concerns about the power of\u00a0artificial intelligence<\/a>\u00a0to mislead with Election Day about three months away.<\/p>\n The video gained attention after\u00a0tech billionaire Elon Musk<\/a>\u00a0shared it on his social media platform X on Friday evening without explicitly noting it was originally released as parody.<\/p>\n The video uses many of the same visuals as a real ad that Harris,\u00a0the likely Democratic president nominee,<\/a>\u00a0released last week launching her campaign. But the video swaps out the voice-over audio with another voice that convincingly impersonates Harris.<\/p>\n \u201cI, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate,\u201d the voice says in the video. It claims Harris is a \u201cdiversity hire\u201d because she is a woman and a person of color, and it says she doesn\u2019t know \u201cthe first thing about running the country.\u201d The video retains \u201cHarris for President\u201d branding. It also adds in some authentic past clips of Harris.<\/p>\n Mia Ehrenberg, a Harris campaign spokesperson, said in an email to The Associated Press: \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The widely shared video is an example of how lifelike\u00a0AI-generated images, videos or audio clips<\/a>\u00a0have been utilized both to poke fun and to mislead about politics as the United States draws closer to the presidential election. It exposes how, as high-quality AI tools have become far\u00a0more accessible<\/a>, there remains a lack of significant federal action so far to regulate their use, leaving rules guiding AI in politics largely to states and social media platforms.<\/p>\n The video also raises questions about how to best handle content that blurs the lines of what is considered an appropriate use of AI, particularly if it falls into the category of satire.<\/p>\n The original user who posted the video, a YouTuber known as Mr Reagan, has disclosed both on YouTube and on X that the manipulated video is a parody. But Musk\u2019s post, which has been viewed more than 123 million times, according to the platform, only includes the caption \u201cThis is amazing\u201d with a laughing emoji.<\/p>\n X users who are familiar with the platform may know to click through Musk\u2019s post to the original user\u2019s post, where the disclosure is visible. Musk\u2019s caption does not direct them to do so.<\/p>\n While some participants in X\u2019s \u201ccommunity note\u201d feature to add context to posts have suggested labeling Musk\u2019s post, no such label had been added to it as of Sunday afternoon. Some users online questioned whether his post might violate\u00a0X\u2019s policies<\/a>, which say users \u201cmay not share synthetic, manipulated, or out-of-context media that may deceive or confuse people and lead to harm.\u201d<\/p>\n The policy has an exception for memes and satire as long as they do not cause \u201csignificant confusion about the authenticity of the media.\u201d<\/p>\n Musk endorsed former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, earlier this month. Neither Mr Reagan nor Musk immediately responded to emailed requests for comment Sunday.<\/p>\n Two experts who specialize in AI-generated media reviewed the fake ad\u2019s audio and confirmed that much of it was generated using AI technology.<\/p>\n One of them, University of California, Berkeley, digital forensics expert Hany Farid, said the video shows the power of generative AI and deepfakes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe AI-generated voice is very good,\u201d he said in an email. \u201cEven though most people won\u2019t believe it is VP Harris\u2019 voice, the video is that much more powerful when the words are in her voice.\u201d<\/p>\n He said generative AI companies that make voice-cloning tools and other AI tools available to the public should do better to ensure their services are not used in ways that could harm people or democracy.<\/p>\n Rob Weissman, co-president of the advocacy group Public Citizen, disagreed with Farid, saying he thought many people would be fooled by the video.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s obviously a joke,\u201d Weissman said in an interview. \u201cI\u2019m certain that most people looking at it don\u2019t assume it\u2019s a joke. The quality isn\u2019t great, but it\u2019s good enough. And precisely because it feeds into preexisting themes that have circulated around her, most people will believe it to be real.\u201d<\/p>\n Weissman, whose organization has advocated for Congress, federal agencies and states to regulate generative AI, said the video is \u201cthe kind of thing that we\u2019ve been warning about.\u201d<\/p>\n Other generative AI deepfakes in both the U.S. and elsewhere would have tried to influence voters with misinformation, humor or both. In Slovakia in 2023,\u00a0fake audio clips<\/a>\u00a0impersonated a candidate discussing plans to rig an election and raise the price of beer days before the vote. In Louisiana in 2022, a political action committee\u2019s\u00a0satirical ad<\/a>\u00a0superimposed a Louisiana mayoral candidate\u2019s face onto an actor portraying him as an underachieving high school student.<\/p>\n Congress has yet to pass legislation on AI in politics, and\u00a0federal agencies<\/a>\u00a0have only taken limited steps, leaving most existing U.S. regulation to the states. More than one-third of states have\u00a0created their own laws<\/a>\u00a0regulating the use of AI in campaigns and elections, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.<\/p>\n Beyond X, other social media companies also have created policies regarding synthetic and manipulated media shared on their platforms. Users on the video platform YouTube, for example, must reveal whether they have used generative artificial intelligence to create videos\u00a0or face suspension.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n