GOP’s anti-Biden ad launches new wave of AI-generated manipulation: columnist

Republicans responded to President Joe Biden's announcement that he's running for reelection by releasing an ad warning of what the GOP considers disastrous consequences of a second term. “Beat Biden,” is described by the GOP as “An AI-generated look into the country's possible future if Joe Biden is re-elected in 2024.”

It depicts a dystopian future of global conflict, rising crime, and economic collapse.

Whatever one believes America’s future would be like under a second Biden term, the ad itself is cause for concern, MSNBC Opinion Writer/Editor Zeeshan Aleem writes.

The ad is clunky by today’s standards, but Aleem warns that “the clumsy execution masks something darker.”

“This technology will become more sophisticated over time — and with that, the capacity to manipulate, confuse and misinform the public will grow too.”

An Axios report notes that, ready or not, we’ve already entered a new world.

“AI-generated images are disrupting art, journalism, and now politics,” the report said.

“The 2024 election is poised to be the first election with ads full of images generated by modern Artificial Intelligence software that are meant to look and feel real to voters.”

Aleem asserts that it’s not yet known the extent to which AI-generated political ads can obscure truth.

“Given huge variations in internet literacy, it’s plausible that significant swathes of the public are vulnerable to being manipulated in ways they’re not even aware of,” Aleem writes.

“Even more worrying is that all these images can be produced at astonishing speed with minimal costs.”