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This is all great, but voters will probably find more digital fakes online than in broadcasts. And for digital ads, the government has not issued any solution.
The Federal Electoral Commission was requested by advocacy group Public Citizen create rules requiring disclosures similar to the FCC’s for all political ads, regardless of medium, but the agency has yet to act. A Washington Post report from JanuaryHe said the FEC plans to make some decision by early summer. But summer is right around the corner and we haven’t heard much. The Senate Rules Committee approved three bills to regulate the use of AI in elections. including disclosuresearlier this month, but there is no promise it will arrive in time to make a difference.
If you really want to be scared, there are only 166 days until the presidential elections. There aren’t many days left until something related to the AI revelations hits the finish line, especially before the Biden and Trump campaigns, and all the snubbed politicians, start pouring even more money into ads on social platforms.
Without regulations, technology companies will bear much of the responsibility for protecting our elections from misinformation. If it doesn’t sound that different from 2020, I feel the same way! It is a new topic, but with the same companies at the helm. In November, Meta said political ads should include disclaimers when they contain AI-generated content. TikTok does not allow political ads, but it does require creators to label AI content when they share synthetic content that represents realistic images, audio and video.
It’s something, but what if they make a big mistake? Sure, Mark Zuckerberg and all the other tech CEOs may be summoned by Congress for a hearing or two, but they’re unlikely to face any regulatory consequences before the election is held.
There’s a lot at stake here and we’re running out of time. If Congress or an agency were to issue any guidance, they would have to do so in the coming months. Otherwise, it may not be worth the effort.
The chat room
At the end of this week’s podcast, we asked listeners to write in and describe how their experience following politics online has changed since the last presidential election. Are you browsing directly to news sites for election updates? Do you still have a decent relationship with X/Twitter? Maybe subscribe to newsletters like this one? I want to know about that!
Leave a comment on the site or email me at mail@wired.com.
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Wired readings
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What else are we reading?
🔗 See how easily AI chatbots can be taught to spew misinformation: The New York Times created two chatbots, one liberal and one conservative. Each delivered partisan answers to political questions, which sound too similar to how people talk to each other online. (The New York Times)
🔗 The good news for Biden about young voters: While Biden is doing worse among young voters than in 2020, the numbers may not be as disastrous as they seem. (The Atlantic)
🔗 OpenAI just gave away the full game: Scarlett Johansson’s fiery statement in response to OpenAI’s latest voice model shows how the company devours data no matter what. (The Atlantic)
The download
Let me gloat and gush about my desk for a second, sorry. This week, the WIRED Policy Lab The podcast reached the top 20 in the Apple Podcast news rankings. We were also one of Amazon Music’s top podcasts of the week!
This week I’m back in the fold with Leah and David, talking about the real end of Twitter (X, ugh), the future of digital political communication, and what it all has to do with the New York-Dublin Portal. Check it here!
And one last thing. Sometimes making good posts It’s recognizing when you’re out of the loop.
That’s all for today. Thanks again for subscribing. You can contact me via email, Instagram, X and Signal at makenakelly.32.