The surge of A.I. fakes that emerged this election season was different than what researchers had feared. The results are also a reckoning.
First came the election results, then came the meme party.
In the wake of the Democratic wave of support on Election Day, content creators used artificial intelligence to flood the internet with fake videos, depicting candidates and celebrities in various states of celebration.
One A.I.-made skit, featuring replicas of the cast from the hit TV show “The Office” showed the boss adjusting to a progressive society, wearing a Pride flag sweater and calling for an emergency Diversity Day. It received more than 16 million views in one post on X.
The video was emblematic of the kinds of A.I. fakes that have coursed through social media during the midterm season. Many of the most popular videos spreading online vied for laughs and sometimes jeers — an absurd mix of outlandish events that obviously never happened.
The results are a minor relief for researchers who monitor the spread of A.I. fakery, and also a reckoning.
Experts have warned ahead of every U.S. election since at least 2020 that A.I. replicas of real people — “deepfakes” — and other deceptive content generated by the technology could upend democracy, misleading voters about scandals that never happened or salacious fake comments.
