The attorney-general's office in the US state of New Hampshire is investigating reports that an apparent robocall used artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic President Joe Biden's voice, discouraging voters from going to the polls.
Key points:
- The call generates a voice similar to Joe Biden's and tells listeners to "save your vote for the November election"
- The calls falsely show the call coming from the phone number of New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Kathy Sullivan
- Experts say the AI call is a "sign of things to come" surrounding the weaponisation of technology in the 2024 US election
The recorded message, which was sent to multiple voters on Sunday (local time), appears to be an illegal attempt to disrupt and suppress voting in Tuesday's primary election, Attorney-General John Formella said on Monday.
Mr Formella said voters "should disregard the contents of this message entirely".
A recording of the call reviewed by The Associated Press generates a voice similar to Mr Biden's and employs his often-used phrase, "What a bunch of malarky".
It then tells the listener to "save your vote for the November election".
"Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again," the voice mimicking Mr Biden says.
"Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday."
"The president has been clear that there are risks associated with deep fakes," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, reiterating the voice was not Mr Biden's.
"Fake images and misinformation can be exacerbated by emerging technologies."
Call 'came' from New Hampshire Democratic Party chair
The claim that voting in Tuesday's primary precludes voters from casting a ballot in November's general election is untrue.
Mr Biden is not campaigning in New Hampshire and his name will not appear on Tuesday's primary ballot after he elevated South Carolina to the lead-off position for the Democratic primaries.
His allies are running a write-in campaign for him in the state.
It's not known who is behind the calls, though they falsely showed up to recipients as coming from the personal phone number of Kathy Sullivan.
Ms Sullivan, a former New Hampshire ballot law commissioner and New Hampshire Democratic Party chair, issued a complaint to the attorney-general after multiple votes reported the call on Sunday night.
"This call links back to my personal cell phone number without my permission," she said in a statement.
"It is outright election interference, and clearly an attempt to harass me and other New Hampshire voters who are planning to write-in Joe Biden on Tuesday."
It was unclear how many people received the call but a spokesperson for Ms Sullivan said she heard from at least a dozen people who received it.
The attorney-general's office encouraged anyone who has received the call to email the state Justice Department's election law unit.
Would-be Biden voter said call was 'convincing'
Gail Huntley, a 73-year-old Democrat in the state, who plans to write in Mr Biden's name on Tuesday, said she received the call at about 6:25pm on Sunday.
She instantly recognised the voice as belonging to Mr Biden but quickly realised it was a scam because what he was saying didn't make sense.
Initially, she figured his words were taken out of context.
"I didn't think about it at the time, that it wasn't his real voice," she said.
"That's how convincing it was," she said.
Loading...Mr Biden's campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, said the campaign is "actively discussing additional actions to take immediately".
"Spreading disinformation to suppress voting and deliberately undermine free and fair elections will not stand, and fighting back against any attempt to undermine our democracy will continue to be a top priority for this campaign," she said.
Katie Dolan, a spokeswoman for the campaign of Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who is challenging Mr Biden in the Democratic primary, said Mr Phillips's team was not involved in the deepfake attempt.
The Trump campaign said it had nothing to do with the recording but declined further comment.
Unprecedented election disinformation coming in 2024
The apparent attempt at voter suppression using rapidly advancing generative AI technology is one example of what experts warn will make 2024 a year of unprecedented election disinformation around the world.
Generative AI deepfakes already have appeared in campaign ads in the 2024 presidential race, and the technology has been misused across the globe.
"We have been concerned that generative AI would be weaponised in the upcoming election and we are seeing what is surely a sign of things to come," Hany Farid, an expert in digital forensics at the University of California said.
Mr Farid confirmed the recording is a relatively low-quality AI fake.
David Becker, a former US Department of Justice attorney and election law expert, said it was hard to determine whether the main intent of the New Hampshire call was to suppress voting or simply to "continue the process of getting Americans to untether themselves from fact and truth regarding our democracy".
"They don't need to convince us that what they're saying, the lies they're telling, are true," he said.
"They just need to convince us that there is no truth, that you can't believe anything you're told."
AP/ Reuters