philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Fake celebrity endorsements become latest weapon in misinformation wars

... Roughly 1 in 10 viral posts analyzed by the News Literacy Project contained fake endorsements, according to data provided exclusively to CNN. Those posts described supposed endorsements - or alternatively, public snubs - from celebrities including NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, actor Morgan Freeman, musician Bruce Springsteen, and political figures like former First Lady Michelle Obama. ...

Experts say the problem has been exacerbated by X's AI-powered chatbot, Grok, which has already drawn the ire of election officials for spreading false information about Harris' eligibility in the 2024 election. Last week, X began allowing users to use Grok to create AI-generated images from text prompts, unleashing a flood of fake content about Trump and Harris.

"Going forward, Grok is likely to be one of the main sources of these sorts of images because it generates high-quality images, is easily available, and was intentionally made to have a low refusal rate," Hansen said, adding that he was able to use Grok to create images of "Swifties for Trump" that closely resemble the ones Trump shared. ...

See the full story here: https://abc11.com/post/fake-celebrity-endorsements-become-latest-weapon-misinformation-wars-sowing-confusion-ahead-2024-election/15218719/