Days after Vice President Kamala Harris launched her presidential bid, a video -- created with the help of artificial intelligence -- went viral. "I ... am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate," a voice that sounded like Harris' said in the fake audio track used to alter one of her campaign ads. "I was selected because I am the ultimate diversity hire." Billionaire Elon Musk -- who has endorsed Harris' Republican opponent, former President Trump-- shared the video on X, then clarified two days later that it was actually meant as a parody. His initial tweet had 136 million views.

Americans in Silicon Valley fear advanced artificial intelligence in campaign ads will influence and manipulate voters' decisions in the 2024 election. Americans in Silicon Valley are predicting advanced artificial intelligence could significantly influence and manipulate voters in the 2024 elections, with a potential for "disturbingly false" political advertising to push agendas. "I've seen some hilarious videos and some concerning ones where it's getting too realistic," Travis, of San Jose, said. As advanced artificial intelligence applications proliferate across industries, the rapidly evolving technology has raised concerns about its ability to manipulate elections, with some 2024 presidential campaigns already utilizing the tool. Former President Trump's presidential campaign, for example, triggered an uproar on X after using artificial intelligence to recreate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2024 presidential announcement with fictional guests, including billionaire Democratic donor George Soros, World Economic Forum Chair Klaus Schwab, former Vice President Dick Cheney, Adolf Hitler, the devil and the FBI.

Fake AI pictures and videos will be nearly impossible to discern from real images as the technology behind deepfakes advances, University of California, Berkeley professor says. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) must consider whether it needs to set rules to prevent political campaigns from using artificial intelligence to create ads intended to deceive voters as the 2024 election cycle moves into full swing, an AI image analyst said. "The FEC will need to consider whether and how to regulate a campaign's use of manipulated media in the service of its own candidate," Hany Farid, a University of California, Berkeley professor, wrote in a recent opinion piece for The Hill. "Manipulating the photographic record is only the first step in spreading lies." Presidential campaigns have already started using artificial intelligence to deceptively manipulate their campaign ads.

Tom Newhouse, vice president of Convergence Media, discusses the potential impact of artificial intelligence on elections after an RNC AI ad garnered attention. A House Democrat proposed legislation this week that would require political campaign ads to make it clear to viewers when generative artificial intelligence is used to produce video or images in those ads, an idea that is a response to an AI-generated ad against President Biden that was released last week. Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., said in a statement introducing her bill that AI has become a factor in the upcoming campaign and needs to be regulated so people can understand what they hear and see on television. "The upcoming 2024 election cycle will be the first time in U.S. history where AI generated content will be used in political ads by campaigns, parties, and Super PACs," she said. "Unfortunately, our current laws have not kept pace with the rapid development of artificial intelligence technologies."