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More than 75% of Americans worried AI will influence presidential election outcome: Survey

By
Published  August 21, 2024 10:10pm EDT
Artificial Intelligence
FOX 13 News

AI images and the election

A new Elon University survey shows are concerned artificial intelligence will impact public trust ahead of the November election.

TAMPA, Fla. - With the election 75 days away, there's a concern that artificial intelligence may be used to influence your vote. A survey by Elon University shows more than 75% of Americans are worried it will and about half admit they can't always tell if an image is real or fake.

Deciphering real from fake is nothing new, but what is new is the fact some Americans feel like now it is harder than ever to do so, especially in the midst of an election.

"The real problem, I think, is voters now aren't sure what to believe, and therefore they don't believe anything and without some level of social trust, democracy just doesn't work," said Peter Loge, the director of the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs.

READ: Bay Area students to learn about A.I. from virtual dogs

According to the survey, at least 78% of Americans believe abuses of artificial intelligence will influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.

"AI is helping generate the emails we're all getting. The fundraising texts that I'm getting. I'm drowning in them. AI is helping generate content or copy for ads for speeches," Loge said.

Loge said AI's influence can also have the opposite effect, like when people initially thought the image of the bullet that struck Trump was AI generated when it was actually a real photo taken by a New York Times photographer.

MORE: Contractors using AI programs to speed up construction

"If I don't like an image, if I don't like a sound bite, I don't have to deny it. All I can say is, ‘oh, well, that was AI generated, right?’ If I do something stupid, and it's caught on film, I can say 'that wasn't really me, that was AI,' but say you caught something great on film, someone who doesn't like me can say 'that isn't really Loge, that's AI.' It's a decreasing of public trust," Loge said.

With no federal rules regulating AI, unsure voters can turn to resources like the Poytner Institute's Independent Fact Checking Network or programs that decipher images as real or AI-generated like TrueMedia.org, but no software is 100% effective.

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