On Monday, the Attorney General’s office in New Hampshire announced that it was looking into allegations of an alleged robocall that imitated President Joe Biden’s voice using artificial intelligence in an attempt to discourage state residents from casting ballots in Tuesday’s primary election.
The recorded message, which was given to many voters on Sunday, according to Attorney General John Formella, seems to be an unlawful attempt to obstruct and discourage voting. Voters “should disregard the contents of this message entirely,” according to him.
An investigation has been started
The calls appear to have been made artificially, and an inquiry has been launched into them. The audio’s creator is unknown. The Trump team has refuted any participation. Voters are instructed to “save” their ballot for the main election in November by a voice in the message.
The robocalls misled the recipients into believing they were from Kathy Sullivan, a former state Democratic chairperson who now assists in running a pro-Biden political organization in New Hampshire, using her personal cell number.
This call directly connects to my personal cell phone number without my consent, the statement reads, characterizing it as “outright meddling in elections”. An application to prevent robocalls likely there were between 5,000 and 25,000 calls made, as CNN reported.
Although the number of callers was unknown, a Sullivan representative claimed to have spoken with at least twelve of them. Anyone who got the call was urged to contact the state’s election law unit of the Justice Department by the attorney general’s office.
The call came at 6:25 p.m. on Sunday, according to Hancock, New Hampshire Democrat Gail Huntley, 73, who intends to write in Biden’s name on Tuesday.
He immediately identified the voice as being that of Joe Biden, but as soon as he heard what he was saying, he knew it was a hoax. She assumed at first that his remarks were misinterpreted.
“At the time, I never gave it any thought that it wasn’t his true voice. It was that convincing, she claimed, adding that while she is horrified, she is not shocked that AI-generated fakes like this are becoming more and more common in her state.
Is AI used to spread false information in electoral campaigns?
Deepfakes using generative AI have already been seen in presidential campaign advertisements for 2024, and within the past year, the technology has been abused to disseminate false information in elections all around the world, including Slovakia, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
The federal government is still failing to deal with AI technology as it advances. Despite considerable bipartisan support, Congress has not yet passed laws attempting to control the industry’s influence in politics. The public’s feedback on a petition to restrict AI deepfakes in political advertisements is being considered by the Federal Election Commission.
Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who is running against Biden in the Democratic primary, has a spokesperson named Katie Dolan. She indicated that Phillips’ team was not aware of the deepfake attempt until a reporter contacted to inquire about it.
In a statement, Dolan stated, “Any attempt to discourage voters is disgraceful and an unacceptable affront to democracy.” “It is really unsettling to think that voters may be manipulated by AI.
