Starting This November Ahead of Next Year's US Presidential Election
Fake Videos Previously Emerged Including Trump-Pfauci Hug Photo
Google has established a policy requiring disclosure of whether synthetic or AI-generated images and videos are present in election-related advertisements using its platform. This move comes as major elections, including the U.S. presidential election in November next year, are scheduled one after another, raising concerns about deepfakes and image manipulation based on AI.
According to Bloomberg and other sources on the 6th (local time), Google announced that it has newly established related policies due to the spread of tools capable of creating synthetic content, and will implement them from mid-November. This policy applies only to advertisements and does not apply to general content uploaded on platforms such as YouTube.
Google explained that this policy requires disclosure that synthetic content is included when images are altered beyond simple adjustments such as color or brightness correction. Google added that prominent phrases such as "This audio was computer-generated" or "This image does not depict an actual event" must be included.
Michael Ackermann, a Google spokesperson, said, "This will support responsible political advertising and help provide voters with the information they need to make decisions." Google had already banned deepfakes (edited videos that synthesize a specific person's face into certain footage using AI) that deceive voters, but with the emergence of generative AI chatbots and increased possibilities of image manipulation, it made this decision.
The Washington Post (WP) introduced cases where fake images and videos have already been used in elections. In June, a video was released showing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, embracing former President Donald Trump and former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony Fauci, but it was revealed to be a fake video. Last month, the Polish opposition admitted that the prime minister’s voice in an advertisement was a fake voice created using AI.
Meanwhile, this announcement came ahead of an AI forum hosted by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. The AI forum, scheduled for the 13th, is expected to discuss protective measures to prevent the negative impacts of AI on society. Attendees will include Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google; Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft (MS); Bill Gates, founder of MS; Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms; Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla; and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI.
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