An op-ed published by Huffpost calls on the Biden campaign to launch a disinformation effort by disseminating AI-enhanced videos that make Joe Biden look younger and healthier.
In the article titled, “It’s Time For The Biden Campaign To Embrace AI”, Kaivan Shroff argues that a potential Trump victory is so great that the Biden campaign should push fake content to dupe the public into supporting Biden, claiming refusing to do so “is akin to entering the boxing ring with one hand tied behind your back.”
“The stakes of the 2024 presidential election cannot be overstated. With Donald Trump promising to act as a dictator ‘on day one,’ it is not hyperbolic to say the future of American democracy hangs in the balance,” Shroff wrote Wednesday.
“Against this backdrop, the Biden campaign faces a critical challenge: conveying a strong and effective image of President Joe Biden to a population and media ecosystem increasingly focused on optics over substance. Given the president’s concerning performance last week, it’s time for the Biden campaign to consider leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to effectively reach the voting public.“
.@HuffPost published an essay by a lefty nutter arguing that Biden’s campaign should deceive the public with AI videos (i.e. faked) of the president that make him speak well and look youthful.
Kaivan Shroff argues that the threat of Trump’s victory is so great that fake content… pic.twitter.com/do571SCDUH
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 4, 2024
“Modern technology offers a clear solution. AI can be used to polish how the president comes across, allowing voters to focus on his substance. How many times have we heard voters and pundits alike gripe that ‘Biden would be the perfect candidate if he were just 10 years younger?’ With modern technology, this exact deliverable is possible.”
Shroff went on to justify the “dishonest and deceptive” practice of AI manipulation for political purposes, arguing the current media environment is no better, citing the recent videos of Biden wandering around and freezing up that the media falsely dubbed as “cheapfakes.”
“Reasonably, some may challenge the use of AI as dishonest and deceptive, but the current information ecosystem is arguably no better. It may even be worse,” he wrote. “Media outlets like the New York Post have engaged in sharing deceptively cropped viral clips of the president, dubbed ‘cheapfakes,’ to make him appear confused or weak.”
Shroff went on to complain about the unfettered information landscape facilitated by Elon Musk’s X amid the constellation of social media platforms that have rigorous censorship policies.
“Social media outlets like Instagram and TikTok have cracked down on political content, while rightwing billionaire Elon Musk has used Twitter to amplify false information about the election and boost Republicans. Even once great institutions like The Washington Post have transitioned into Murdoch-style tabloids,” he wrote.
“We must ask the question, are augmented AI videos that present Biden in his best form ― while sharing honest and accurate information ― really more socially damaging than our information ecosystem’s current realities? I think not.”
Shroff concluded by saying Trump’s probability of retaking the White House is enough justification to leverage the use of AI to improve Biden’s image by any means necessary.
Until now, it has been almost taken as a given that using AI renderings of the president would violate some ethical baseline of campaigning. In an ideal world that may be so. Yet, what last week’s debate made clear is just how far from any such ideal our current reality is. The greatest moral and ethical imperative for those who care about American democracy should be keeping the man who tried to overthrow it as far away from the White House as possible.
Equivocating over the use of AI will do nothing to stop its abuse and misuse should Republicans regain power this November. It is incumbent upon the Biden campaign to use every tool available to make sure the president’s reelection bid is successful. Instead of a new candidate, AI allows Democrats to address the main vulnerabilities of our current standard bearer while embracing an inevitability of modern politics.
The Democrats have become so desperate to prop up Joe Biden that they’re openly scheming how to gaslight the American people even harder going into the presidential election.
After all, the Democrats already tried every other ridiculous lie in the book to excuse Biden’s disastrous debate performance, such as that he had jet lag, and that he had a cold.
Is this a Saturday Night Live skit?
Reporter: “How is it possible that Joe Biden would suffer from ‘jet lag’ two weeks after he got back from his trip…?”
Karine Jean-Pierre: “It’s the jet lag AND also the cold, right?”
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) July 3, 2024