Greens senator David Shoebridge warns that AI-generated scam videos could “steal the next election” as fake news about the US presidential race floods social media.
The Select Committee on Adopting Artificial Intelligence has delayed its final report so it can study the impact of AI on the presidential election in the US.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s social media app xAI has been slammed for boosting conspiracy theories about voter fraud and priming voter mistrust with a barrage of misinformation.
Musk shared an AI-generated photo of vice president Kamala Harris as a communist dictator, wearing a red uniform complete with hammer and sickle emblazoned hat.
Russia, China and Iran have also used “malicious cyber actors” to sow discord and shape the outcome of US elections for their own benefit, according to the ODNI, FBI and CISA.
With millions of Americans heading to the polls in less than five days, Shoebridge said the potential effect of deepfake political material is very worrying.
“We have seen Federal Politicians already featured in AI generated scam videos and it will be utterly unsurprising when this technology is used for political scams too.”
Australians could also see deepfake ads in the run-up to the next federal election without new laws restricting the use of AI-generated political material.
Some senators have argued that mandatory guardrails would only restrict freedom of speech, while others said posts generated by AI could mislead voters or damage candidates’ reputations.
Shoebridge, the inquiry deputy chair, said the US political landscape foreshadows similar challenges for Australia.
“When you watch the USA now you can see what will happen in Australia next May, so no politician can say they weren’t on notice,” he said.
“The Federal Parliament must not stand still and let scammers and deepfakes steal the next election and the Greens are ready to work across the aisle to fix this.”
An interim report has called on the federal government to implement, ahead of the next Australian federal election, voluntary codes relating to watermarking and credentialing of AI-generated content.
The committee also recommended a review of potential responses to deepfake content, laws restricting the production or dissemination of AI-generated political material and that the mandatory guardrails also apply to AI systems used in an electoral setting.
The parliamentary committee is expected to release its final findings on November 26.
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