Following a wave of calls from “President Biden” urging people not to cast ballots in the New Hampshire primary, the agency moved swiftly.
This Monday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed a vote that overwhelmingly approved the prohibition of robocalls, which are calls that impersonate someone else’s voice by using artificial intelligence. A fast response on the part of the government to an eruption of politically driven artificial intelligence robocalls that exploited President Biden’s “voice” to discourage voting is symbolized by the prohibition.
From the end of January to the beginning of February, residents of New Hampshire started getting phone calls that contained a recorded message from “President Biden.” Those who received the message were advised to “save” their votes for the general election rather than participating in the next primary election, which was intended to discourage them from doing so. Biden-isms such as “What a bunch of malarkey!” were included in the message for good measure. The message stated, “Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday,” along with other phrases. The personal cell phone number of Kathy Sullivan, a former head of the Democratic Party who is currently working with the Biden campaign, was even spoofing in some of the calls.
It was swiftly brought to the attention of the general public by the office of the Attorney General of New Hampshire that the messages were fabricated, and an inquiry was launched. At the beginning of this week, the office collaborated with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to issue cease-and-desist orders to two companies based in Texas that are suspected to have been affected by the unwanted calls. According to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is now providing attorneys general with “new tools to crack down on these scams” for the purpose of specifically prohibiting voice-cloning technology in robocalls.
Despite the fact that some individuals may find it simple to disregard scams such as this one, others may have difficulty distinguishing between legal campaign materials and those that are not real in the run-up to a significant election. Generally speaking, the majority of the time, professionals advise erring on the side of caution.
“Anyone who feels they have received a suspicious call should refrain from sharing sensitive information or complying with requests until the legitimacy of the communication is confirmed,” Alon Yamin, the co-founder and CEO of the AI-based text analysis platform Copyleaks, told ExtremeTech in an email. Copyleaks is a platform that analyzes text using artificial intelligence. In addition, Yamin emphasized that this is of utmost significance in situations where unfamiliar communications require the immediate attention of recipients or convey information that is disturbing.
As the primary elections in the states are being held and the general election in November draws closer, it is expected that con artists will increase their attempts to spread false information to election voters. A wide variety of media, ranging from still photographs to deepfake movies, could be utilized to misrepresent the beliefs, objectives, or behaviors of candidates. During the previous year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) initiated an investigation into the ways in which it may utilize artificial intelligence pattern recognition to “turn [AI] into a force for good” and prevent suspicious robocalls from reaching the general public.
In spite of the fact that they run the possibility of being punished, threat actors will, without a doubt, continue to attempt to interfere with elections. In addition to the collaborative efforts among technology companies, policymakers, and civil society organizations to address the underlying factors contributing to AI-produced misinformation, Yamin stated that it is of the utmost importance to promote media literacy and critical thinking skills in order to equip individuals with the ability to differentiate between credible information and misinformation.