Moscow is using AI on social media to boost Donald Trump’s chances and harm Kamala Harris, US intelligence claims. As an anonymous representative of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence emphasized, Russia is responsible for the largest amount of AI-generated content related to the election.
On Monday, a representative of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) USA During a press briefing, he spoke – on condition of anonymity – about the use of AI by foreign countries in the context of attempts to influence the election campaign in the US. He pointed out that Russia is the most active and largest player in this field, which has a better understanding of the electoral realities in the US.
He stressed that Russia uses AI to create content “across all media – text, images, audio and video” to spread its narratives online. It does this, among other things, through bots and fake social media accounts. “This is part of a broader Russian effort to support the candidacy of the former president and to slander the vice president and the Democratic Party, including through conspiratorial narratives,” the official said.
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Donald Trump just before the debateDEMETRIUS FREEMAN/EPA
Attempts to interfere in US elections
The ODNI representative admitted, however, that AI is not yet a “revolutionary tool of influence,” because its use has certain limitations that sometimes make it easier to detect AI content. He added that these limitations can be overcome by building advanced AI models and a strategic approach to reaching specific audiences and content distribution channels.
As an example of Russian activity, a video was cited in which the victim of a fictitious car accident, allegedly caused by Harris in 2011, recounts how the Democratic candidate hit a 13-year-old girl, leaving her paralyzed, and fled the scene. The video was not created using AI but hired actors and posted by a fictitious local television station in San Francisco, created by the Russians.
The intelligence representative stressed that other countries are also making similar attempts to interfere in the elections, such as China and Iran. China, however, focuses its influence operations on highlighting social divisions in the US and promoting its own image. Iran, on the other hand, uses AI to create social media posts and create fictitious news portals that resemble real media.
Main image source: DEMETRIUS FREEMAN/EPA