Editorial: Cheap fakes are dangerous knockoff of AI deep-fake threats

Deepfakes are getting attention as we creep closer to the election. These are things that spread like a bad flu with increasing reliance on technology.

Often, they are a political weapon. Thousands of people in New Hampshire received robocalls ahead of the primary, with a voice that sounded like President Joe Biden urging them to stay home and not vote. In 2023, a video from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used artificial intelligence-generated images of former president Donald Trump hugging Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Sometimes they can be used as a tool by supporters, detractors or just those sowing chaos. Billionaire Elon Musk shared a faux campaign video on his X.com (formerly Twitter) platform using a voice sounding like Vice President Kamala Harris.

“This is amazing,” Musk said.

“This is a violation of @X’s policies on synthetic media & misleading identities. Are you going to retroactively change them to allow violations in an election year?” responded writer and digital expert Alexander Howard.

But these high tech dangers are only part of the threats swimming in the social media and electronic waters leading up to November. There are low tech issues, too. These are called “cheap fakes.”

On Wednesday, an interview with U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, showed the potential risks with editing and misrepresentation.

Fetterman has distanced himself from some of the more left-wing positions of the Democratic Party over the last year, including stating he isn’t a progressive in a December interview on NBC News. Politico said he spoke up against Gov. Josh Shapiro as a potential running mate for Harris; Fetterman has denied that.

But a piece of the interview posted on X.com by RNC Research, an account managed by the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, is accompanied by the post “WE AGREE, FETTERMAN: “If you match up Trump and Harris … I do believe he’s gonna win Pennsylvania.”

Is that possible? Sure. Trump won Pennsylvania in 2016. It’s also possible he won’t as Trump lost in 2020. Pennsylvania is the largest swing state and often a reliable measure of who will win the White House.

But it’s also not what Fetterman said.

The interview was with Greta Van Susteren on Newsmax. The senator said he believes the race will be tight, but will end in a Harris win. However, in the strategically edited clip, Fetterman misspoke, saying “he” instead of “she.” Fetterman very famously had a stroke in 2022 days before the primary and struggled with speech and auditory processing afterward.

The full speech makes his support of his party’s candidate clear. The cherry-picked editing does not. That is unfair to Fetterman and Harris. It’s also unfair to both Democratic and Republican voters who could be given the wrong impression of Fetterman’s analysis and make choices accordingly.

It is important for every voter to read articles critically, but even more so to take in the video or audio presented online with a healthy dose of dubiousness if not outright cynicism.

The text of a social media post, like a headline, should always be the starting point. If you see a clip of an interview, follow breadcrumbs to get the full story. If a story sounds surprising, be engaged to find out more before you spread it around to your friends.

The election of 2024 is important on every level: presidential, senatorial, congressional, state legislative. We can’t fall for a cheap knockoff of a deepfake threat to our democracy.