DeSantis PAC uses AI-generated Trump voice in campaign ad

1 year ago 31

COMMITMENT 2020 FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AGAIN MAKING ITS WAY INTO THE LATEST POLITICAL AD. THIS ONE COMES FROM A PAC SUPPORTING FLORIDA GOVERNOR, RON DESANTIS, AND ATTACKING FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP. WESH 2 NEWS POLITICAL REPORTER GREG FOX IS HERE NOW TO GET THE FACTS. DONALD TRUMP ATTACKING HER. I OPENED UP TO GOVERNOR POSITION FOR KIM REYNOLDS THAT SURE SOUNDS LIKE DONALD TRUMP IN WHICH SHE FELL BEHIND. I ENDORSED HER. BUT LISTEN CAREFULLY, DID BIG RALLIES AND SHE WON. NOW SHE WANTS TO REMAIN NEUTRAL. I DON’T INVITE HER TO EVENTS. LET’S GET THE FACTS. WE’LL TAKE THIS IN TWO PARTS. FIRST, ARE THOSE THE FORMER PRESIDENT WORDS? YES, THAT’S A FACT. HE POSTED THAT MESSAGE ON HIS SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM, JULY TEN. BUT IS THAT MR. TRUMP ACTUALLY SPEAKING IN THE AD? FALSE. IT’S NOT. OR AS HE MIGHT SAY, IT’S A HOAX. THE WHOLE THING IS A HOAX. TRUMP SHOULD FIGHT DEMOCRATS, NOT REPUBLICAN. THE AD IS FROM NEVER BACK DOWN, THE SUPER PAC SUPPORTING FLORIDA GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS. THE AD FOCUSES ON KIM REYNOLDS, THE REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR OF IOWA, WHERE EVERY CANDIDATE IS SWARMING FOR PRIMARY VOTES. AS THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, SHE ROSE TO THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE IN MAY 2017, WHEN THEN PRESIDENT TRUMP APPOINTED GOVERNOR TERRY BRANSTAD AD TO BE U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA. THE WHOLE POINT OF THE AD IS TO ALLEGE THE FORMER PRESIDENT IS ANGRY AT REYNOLDS FOR SAYING SHE’S NEUTRAL AND THE GOP PRIMARY, WHILE SHE’S MADE IT ON STAGE WITH GOVERNOR DESANTIS AND HIS WIFE IN RECENT WEEKS. BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS THIS IT’S YET ANOTHER POLITICO AD IN WHICH VOTERS HAVE NO WHAT’S REAL AND WHAT ISN’T. I AS A TECHNOLOGY THAT IS HERE TO STAY. DR. AUBREY JEWETT IS A POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR AT UCF. HE SAYS GENERATIVE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OR GENERAL AI, IS ESPECIALLY EFFECTIVE IN POLITICAL BECAUSE IT’S SO EASILY ALLOWS CAMPAIGNS TO DISTORT FACES VOICES AND MESSAGING. BUT HE ABSOLUTELY BELIEVES IT NEEDS DISCLAIMERS. THE PUBLIC DESERVES TO KNOW WHAT IS THE UNVARNISHED TRUTH OF SOMEBODY TALKING OR WRITING OR SAYING SOMETHING VERSUS. WHAT HAS BEEN GENERATED BY A COMPUTER? NEW YORK CONGRESSWOMAN YVETTE CLARKE IS SO CONCERNED ABOUT JENNER. I DISTORTING POLITICAL MESSAGES. SHE’S INTRODUCED THE NEW MEASURE IN CONGRESS CALLED THE REAL POLITICAL ADS ACT. IT WOULD FORCE POLITICIANS AND PACS TO DISCLOSE WHEN USE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THEIR COMMERCI

Former President Donald Trump might best describe this as “fake news.” He’s being attacked in a new ad from the super political action committee, Never Back Down, which is supporting Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in his bid for the White House. Here’s what the TV ad, airing in Iowa, appears to have the former president saying, “I opened up the governor position for Kim Reynolds. And when she fell behind, I endorsed her. Did big rallies and she won. Now she wants to remain neutral. I don’t invite her to events.” It sure sounds like him, but let’s Get The Facts. We’ll take this in two parts. First, are those the former president’s words? Yes. That’s a fact. He posted that message on his social media platform, Truth Social, on July 10. But is that Trump actually speaking in the ad? False — it is not. The narrator in the commercial also says, “Trump should fight Democrats, not Republicans.” The spot focuses on Kim Reynolds, the Republican governor of Iowa, where every presidential candidate is swarming for primary votes. As the lieutenant governor, she rose to the governor’s office in May 2017, when then-President Trump appointed Gov. Terry Branstad to be the U.S. ambassador to China. The whole point of the ad is to allege the former president is angry at Reynolds for “saying” she’s “neutral” in the GOP primary while she’s made it on stage with Gov. DeSantis and his wife, Casey, in recent weeks. It’s yet another political ad in which voters have no idea what’s real and what isn’t. “AI is a technology that is here to stay,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida. He says generative artificial intelligence, or gen AI, is especially effective in political ads because it so easily allows campaigns to distort faces, voices, and messages. He absolutely believes it needs disclaimers, saying, “The public deserves to know what is the unvarnished truth of what someone is talking or writing or saying something, versus what has been generated by a computer.” Democratic New York Congresswoman Yvette Clarke is so concerned about gen AI distorting political messages that she’s introduced a bill called the “Real Political Ads Act,” which would force politicians and PACs to disclose when they use artificial intelligence in commercials.

Here’s what the TV ad, airing in Iowa, appears to have the former president saying, “I opened up the governor position for Kim Reynolds. And when she fell behind, I endorsed her. Did big rallies and she won. Now she wants to remain neutral. I don’t invite her to events.”

It sure sounds like him, but let’s Get The Facts. We’ll take this in two parts. First, are those the former president’s words?

Yes. That’s a fact. He posted that message on his social media platform, Truth Social, on July 10.

But is that Trump actually speaking in the ad? False — it is not.

The narrator in the commercial also says, “Trump should fight Democrats, not Republicans.” The spot focuses on Kim Reynolds, the Republican governor of Iowa, where every presidential candidate is swarming for primary votes. As the lieutenant governor, she rose to the governor’s office in May 2017, when then-President Trump appointed Gov. Terry Branstad to be the U.S. ambassador to China. The whole point of the ad is to allege the former president is angry at Reynolds for “saying” she’s “neutral” in the GOP primary while she’s made it on stage with Gov. DeSantis and his wife, Casey, in recent weeks.

It’s yet another political ad in which voters have no idea what’s real and what isn’t.

“AI is a technology that is here to stay,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida.

He says generative artificial intelligence, or gen AI, is especially effective in political ads because it so easily allows campaigns to distort faces, voices, and messages.

He absolutely believes it needs disclaimers, saying, “The public deserves to know what is the unvarnished truth of what someone is talking or writing or saying something, versus what has been generated by a computer.”

Democratic New York Congresswoman Yvette Clarke is so concerned about gen AI distorting political messages that she’s introduced a bill called the “Real Political Ads Act,” which would force politicians and PACs to disclose when they use artificial intelligence in commercials.

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