AI technology just keeps getting better and better – and while it offers a cheap thrill to some, others see how much damage it could soon cause to society. Whether it’s job losses caused by AI replacing human workers or AI videos and photos making it easier for scammers to trick people, there’s plenty to worry about.
Over the last several weeks, a video shared by X CEO Elon Musk in late July has been causing more and more controversy. A video shared by the tech mogul that featured an AI-generated version of Vice President Kamala Harris’ voice raised concerns about the future of campaigning – and the future of reality itself. The video quickly went viral after Musk shared it, with some people believing that the clip was real.
A voice that sounds like Kamala Harris, but which was entirely generated by artificial intelligence, can be heard in the video saying derogatory things about her performance as vice president and her campaign in general. The video also repeated Republican talking points that Harris was a “DEI hire” – a line of thought that stems from a 2020 commitment by then-candidate Joe Biden to only consider Black, female candidates to be his running mate.
“I, Kamala Harris, am your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate,” the AI Harris voice says. “Thanks Joe,” she also quips.
The video was originally created by a YouTuber known as Mr. Reagan. When the clip was first published to X and YouTube, it was clearly stated that the video had been generated by AI – but when Musk shared the clip, he didn’t specify that. Instead, he just said, “This is amazing,” and added a laughing emoji.
To many, it was clear that the clip was fake. The laughing emoji alone should be enough for people to realize that. But many didn’t – and many critics of Musk saw it as an opportunity to double down on their criticism of the tech mogul. Musk responded by pinning a post to his X account, clarifying that the video was intended to be satire.
What do you think – is it about time we started requiring AI parody videos to be labeled?
