Tech Companies Pledge to Fight AI Election Interference

Facts

• Twenty tech companies, including OpenAI, Microsoft, Adobe, Meta, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok, have pledged to prevent artificial intelligence (AI) from interfering in elections across the world this year.¹
• The pledge, which is voluntary, includes a promise to create tools to help discern AI-generated images from real ones and be transparent with the public when any notable developments occur.²
• The signatories of the pledge, which also include Google, Amazon, and IBM, said they would target technology that can create 'deceptively fake or alter the appearance, voice, or actions of political candidates, election officials, and other key stakeholders.'³
• Efforts to combat AI schemes will include launching public awareness campaigns on AI deception and teaching voters how to detect fraudulent materials. The companies also said they would work to remove such content from their platforms.¹
• This year will see the largest number of people ever head to the polls throughout the world, including in elections in the US, India, and Mexico. However, most countries, except to some extent in the EU, have yet to pass laws on mitigating AI risks.⁴

Sources: ¹Reuters.com, ²NBC, ³PBS NewsHour and ⁴USA Today.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by OPB. While Big Tech may have begun to fortify their technology against election meddling, the risks of hateful and violent content, alongside deepfakes, are greater than ever before. This is partly because as these companies pledge to reign in existing technology, they continue to release new products that need even more complex safeguards. Misinformation must be stopped before it impacts voters, and this is only a small first step.
• Right narrative, as provided by FOX News. Most Americans probably want to feel safe from the risks of AI, but giving Big Tech, and thus their friends in the Democratic party, the power to oversee election-related information will not ensure freedom or fairness. The companies pledging to safeguard democracy are the same ones that suppressed the Hunter Biden laptop story and kicked Conservatives off social media for their political views. They should not be given any further power.