Greenwald: Preserving the Integrity of Democracy - Banning Misleading AI in Political Campaigns

OPINION

As we enter a new era of political campaigns, the power of information has never been more apparent. As the saying goes, “Knowledge is power.” This has never been more true than in today’s digital age, where information is available at our fingertips, but unfortunately, so is misinformation. That’s why I am promoting legislation to ban the use of misleading AI-generated images and audio in political campaigns in New Jersey.The use of advanced technologies to produce AI-generated content has become increasingly common in political campaigns. Unfortunately, this also means that the use of misleading and false information has become much easier. The use of these tactics undermines our democratic process and threatens the trust our citizens have in their elected officials.It is the responsibility of lawmakers to ensure that our citizens have access to truthful information when making important decisions. By banning the use of misleading AI-generated content in political campaigns, we can ensure that our citizens are protected from deception and manipulation.Our democracy is built on the principle that every citizen has the right to vote and have their voice heard. The use of AI-generated content in political campaigns threatens this principle by manipulating public opinion and distorting the facts. By taking action to ban the use of this technology in political campaigns, we can preserve the integrity of our democracy and protect the rights of our citizens.We must be cautious, however, in our approach to this issue. We do not want to stifle innovation or creativity, but rather ensure that our democratic process remains transparent and fair. As we move forward into this new era of political campaigns, we must strive to strike a balance between protecting our citizens from deception and preserving their right to free speech.In conclusion, the power of information cannot be understated. It is up to us as lawmakers to ensure that our citizens have access to truthful information and that our democratic process remains transparent and fair. By passing this legislation to ban the use of misleading AI-generated content in political campaigns, we can protect the integrity of our democracy and the rights of our citizens. Together, let us strive towards a future where our citizens can trust the information they receive during the election process and where our democracy remains strong and vibrant for generations to come.

Every word you just read up until this point was written by an AI. Every sentence, comma, paragraph break – all of it. I entered a simple prompt into an AI: “Write an op-ed from the perspective of Lou Greenwald who is promoting his legislation to ban the use of misleading AI images and audio in political campaigns. Include a historical quote about the power of information. Be aspirational but cautious.”

That’s it. The program deduced everything else and wrote what you just read. I thought it was important to illustrate the power – and ease – of this technology. The entire process took less than 20 seconds, from prompt to output. We’re grappling with something serious here; the potential for a wonderful expansion of technology comes with it the very real dangers of misuse. I hope this little experiment makes that point. This was a benign use case: instead of just an op-ed, AI technology exists that can manipulate voices and images to make it realistically appear that someone has said something they never did. I didn’t want to go that far for this exercise, but a quick google search will yield plenty of examples. I doubt I need to offer suggestions for how that could be abused in a political campaign, which would be a subversion of our democratic process.

I will be introducing this legislation – the AI didn’t lie about that – and I hope we can begin a meaningful discussion about how to harness the best aspects of the incredible growth of this technology while limiting potential harm.

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