An American political consultant working for the campaign of a little-known Democrat said he was behind automated and manipulated calls that spoofed the vote of American President Joe Biden.
• Also read: With manipulated calls imitating Biden, fear of an election disrupted by AI
• Also read: Phone calls with AI-generated voices are banned in the USA
The artificial intelligence (AI)-generated robocall encouraged voters not to vote in New Hampshire's Democratic primary in January. He is being investigated for “illegal attempts to disrupt a vote.”
The incident has increased the fears of authorities, experts and associations who fear an explosion of audio or video montages for disinformation purposes during the American presidential election and other important elections to be held around the world this year.
Steve Kramer, an aide to Minnesota congressman and Democratic primary candidate Dean Phillips, told NBC News on Sunday that he hired a New Orleans magician, Paul Carpenter, to mimic Joe Biden's voice using an AI tool.
He explained that the scam was aimed at drawing attention to the dangers of AI in politics.
“It's a way for me to make a difference, and that's what I did,” he told NBC. “For $500, I made a deal worth about $5 million, whether because of media attention or the reaction of authorities.”
The fake phone message written by Mr. Kramer began with “What a load of nonsense!”, a favorite expression of the president.
“It is important that you reserve your vote for the November election,” the fake voice continued. “This Tuesday’s vote only allows Republicans to re-elect Donald Trump. Your vote will make the difference in November, not this Tuesday.”
Mr. Kramer said the robocall was made without Mr. Phillips's campaign's knowledge.
“I'm glad he confessed. “America should already have safeguards in place to prevent the harmful use of AI,” said this Democratic candidate on X (formerly Twitter).
The consultant said he received a subpoena from the US Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (FCC). He expects legal action.
Earlier this month, the FCC decided to ban robocalls made using voices generated by an artificial intelligence (AI) program to combat the increasingly sophisticated scams enabled by the technology.