I hate to be the person ranting about how technology will doom us all. But the AI-generated images of former President Donald Trump getting dragged away in handcuffs aren’t helping my anxiety.
The images generated by Artificial Intelligence depict Trump in various stages of being arrested by cops. There are some photos where a hoard of police officers is chasing Trump. Photos where they’re tackling Trump to the ground. And even pictures of a hysterical Melania Trump shrieking as her husband is arrested.
There are several tells that the photos aren’t real. For one thing, the first image depicts Trump with three legs. (Kind of a dead giveaway). But that hasn’t stopped some of the more realistic images from causing confusion.
While the immediate concern is that these fake photos could fuel Trump’s narrative that he’s seconds away from being dragged away in handcuffs, there’s a longer-term reason to be concerned, especially if you’re Black.
Using technology to spread dangerous lies about Black Americans is not a new part of the white supremacist handbook. In 2020, a white supremacist group created a fake “Antifa” account to spread misinformation about the Black Lives Matter movement, implying the group planned to take over white neighborhoods.
While that hoax didn’t end in violence, other fake narratives, like the “great replacement” theory, have ended in tragedy. Last May, a gunman touting the racist conspiracy theory opened fire at a grocery store in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, killing ten people and wounding three others.
What happens when the same people spreading lies about things like the great replacement create realistic videos and audio of Black activists or politicians inciting violence or calling for a “white genocide?” Could more people like the Buffalo shooter buy into or use that messaging if it looks like it’s actually coming from the mouths of Black leaders?
Obviously, deep fakes aren’t totally new. In 2018, Jordan Peele used AI to create an Obama deep fake where the “President” warned that “we’re entering an era in which our enemies can make anyone say anything.”But deep fakes have only gotten more realistic in the intervening years.
Social media platforms and journalists have a responsibility to educate the public about deep fakes and call out misinformation. But as the technology keeps evolving, we’re all going to need to find ways to prepare ourselves for this next wave of the misinformation war.