philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

AI-generated images have become a new form of propaganda this election season

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People watching online platforms and the election closely say that these images are a way to spread partisan narratives with facts often being irrelevant.

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But even after the image’s synthetic provenance was revealed, others doubled down. "I don’t know where this photo came from and honestly, it doesn’t matter." wrote Amy Kremer, a Republican National Committee member representing Georgia, on X. ...

Truth versus facts in images

In the same post defending her decision to keep the synthetic image up, Kremer also wrote: "it is emblematic of the trauma and pain people are living through."

The separation between facts and the idea of a deeper truth has its echoes in Western philosophy, says Matthew Barnidge, a professor who researches online news deserts and political communication at the University of Alabama. "When you go back and dig through the works of Kant and Kierkegaard and Hegel, [there’s] this notion that there is some type of deeper truth which often gets associated with something along the lines of freedom or the sublime, or some concepts like that". ...

To be clear, when individual fact checks pile up against politicians, research suggests it can change how voters feel about them. One study showed that fact checks did change how Australians feel about their politicians. But another study showed that fact checks of Trump did not change Americans’ views about him even as they changed their beliefs about individual facts. ...

Hyper-realistic, often uncanny AI-generated images may live in a gray space between fact and fiction for viewers. While a photorealistic image of pop star Taylor Swift endorsing Trump was clearly not Swift on closer inspection, the passing resemblance had an impact on people who saw it, said New York University art historian Ara Merjian. "it wouldn't have been a scandal if someone had drawn Taylor Swift in a comic endorsing Trump." ...

Hyper-realistic, often uncanny AI-generated images may live in a gray space between fact and fiction for viewers. While a photorealistic image of pop star Taylor Swift endorsing Trump was clearly not Swift on closer inspection, the passing resemblance had an impact on people who saw it, said New York University art historian Ara Merjian. "it wouldn't have been a scandal if someone had drawn Taylor Swift in a comic endorsing Trump." ...

An investigation by 404 Media found that people in developing countries are teaching others to make trending posts using AI-generated images so Facebook will pay them for creating popular content. Payouts can be higher than typical local monthly income. ...

Dangers to the election

One of the more striking AI-generated images related to politics was boosted by X’s owner Elon Musk. It portrayed someone resembling Harris wearing a red uniform with a hammer and sickle on her hat.

Eddie Perez, a former Twitter employee who focuses on confidence in elections at nonpartisan nonprofit OSET Institute, said the image is meant to portray Harris as un-American. ...

Images like these are fanning political polarization, which Perez said could undermine people’s trust in election results. ...

See the full story here: https://www.npr.org/2024/10/18/nx-s1-5153741/ai-images-hurricanes-disasters-propaganda