Dozens of prominent U.S. and state government officials, advocacy groups, and executives from big tech companies gathered in New York last month to participate in an important simulated election exercise.
The war game exercise imagined a fictional crisis in which AI-generated photos and videos are released on social media immediately before the 2024 election. The images appear to show election officials in Florida dumping ballots, in an apparent attempt to manipulate the election’s outcome.
The simulation also included phone calls to elderly voters in Arizona that featured AI-generated voices. The calls asked elderly voters to stay away from polling centers due to threats from radical militia groups.
Participants role-played how the Biden administration should respond to the simulated deepfake event. They gathered in a mock “White House Situation Room,” with each player taking on the role of a prominent figure in government, civil society, or corporate America, including the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, big tech companies, and even the CIA.
Participants engaged in lengthy debates about how the government should address the problem, including whether Joe Biden should personally get involved, one of the “big debates in the room,” according to a report by NBC News. Participants were apparently concerned that if Biden made any statements, it would be used as proof that he was attempting to rig the election in his favor.
via joemiller