Elon Musk, the SpaceX founder and Tesla owner, ignited controversy by sharing an AI-generated video of US Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday evening. The video, which mimics Harris’s voice and appearance, contains fabricated statements, raising serious concerns about the potential of artificial intelligence to mislead voters in the upcoming US Presidential election. Musk shared the video with the caption ‘This is amazing’ and a laughing emoji, just days after endorsing the Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump. The video has garnered significant attention since its release on Musk’s social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
The manipulated video bears striking resemblance to a genuine campaign ad released by the Democratic Party candidate just a week prior. While the video retains authentic clips of Kamala Harris, it features a digitally altered voice-over that convincingly imitates the Vice President. The video falsely claims that Harris is a ‘diversity hire’ and that she lacks the qualifications to lead the nation. It also asserts that she is ‘your Democrat candidate for president because Joe Biden finally exposed his senility at the debate.’
The video’s release, particularly with the US Presidential election just three months away, has sparked widespread concern about the potential for AI-generated misinformation to influence voter decisions. A spokesperson for the Kamala Harris campaign, Mia Ehrenberg, responded to the video by stating that the ‘American people want the real freedom, opportunity and security Vice President Harris is offering, not the fake, manipulated lies of Elon Musk and Donald Trump.’
It is noteworthy that the original social media user who posted the video included a disclaimer on both YouTube and X, clarifying that the manipulated video was a parody. However, Musk’s sharing of the video without explicitly mentioning its parody nature has ignited a heated debate surrounding the responsible use of AI technology and the growing threat of misinformation in the digital age.
