Big tech companies leading the development of artificial intelligence (AI) will this week sign a statement pledging to fight the use of deepfakes for political manipulation in 2024, which will be the biggest election year in history.
The agreement will be signed by Google, Microsoft, Meta (Facebook), OpenAI, Adobe and TikTok. However, these giants will not ban misleading political content generated by their AI applications, according to a copy obtained by The Washington Post. Instead, they will promise to create identification and warning systems. Users will also be “educated” to help them deal with deepfakes. Furthermore, it would be a voluntary commitment, so they wouldn't have to do what they say they'll do.
Deepfakes use artificial intelligence to create images and audio clips that can convincingly reproduce the face and voice of their victims, thus impersonating them. This technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated, making it difficult to determine whether what we see and hear is real or a manipulation campaign.
This possibility represents a great danger to democracy. The agreement recognizes that “the deliberate and undisclosed production and distribution of misleading electoral content based on artificial intelligence can mislead the public and jeopardize the integrity of electoral processes.”
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