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Microsoft, Google, Meta, X and Others Pledge To Prevent AI Election Interference (nbcnews.com) 40

Twenty tech companies working on AI said Friday they had signed a "pledge" to try to prevent their software from interfering in elections, including in the United States. From a report: The signatories range from tech giants such as Microsoft and Google to a small startup that allows people to make fake voices -- the kind of generative-AI product that could be abused in an election to create convincing deepfakes of a candidate. The accord is, in effect, a recognition that the companies' own products create a lot of risk in a year in which 4 billion people around the world are expected to vote in elections.

"Deceptive AI Election content can deceive the public in ways that jeopardize the integrity of electoral processes," the document reads. The accord is also a recognition that lawmakers around the world haven't responded very quickly to the swift advancements in generative AI, leaving the tech industry to explore self-regulation. "As society embraces the benefits of AI, we have a responsibility to help ensure these tools don't become weaponized in elections," Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, said in a statement. The 20 companies to sign the pledge are: Adobe, Amazon, Anthropic, Arm, ElevenLabs, Google, IBM, Inflection AI, LinkedIn, McAfee, Meta, Microsoft, Nota, OpenAI, Snap, Stability AI, TikTok, TrendMicro, Truepic and X.

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Microsoft, Google, Meta, X and Others Pledge To Prevent AI Election Interference

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  • Because Fakebook totally cleaned up its behavior after, say, being caught facilitating a genocide. Or running psyops against its users for the luls. Yeah, I totally buy THIS promise, sure.
    • Hey man, why are you being so negative? This time it's "Tethics"(TM) & it's powered purely by signatories sense of self-satisfaction so it'll totally be a success this time.
  • That's funny... (Score:5, Informative)

    by CEC-P ( 10248912 ) on Friday February 16, 2024 @01:49PM (#64245356)
    ...considering all of them interfered with the last election then wrote a short book about it
    https://time.com/5936036/secre... [time.com]
    • ...considering all of them interfered with the last election then wrote a short book about it https://time.com/5936036/secre... [time.com]

      Reading that link, it says that labor unions and business owners worked together in a "cross-partisan campaign to protect the election–an extraordinary shadow effort dedicated not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted." Not sure if that counts as tech companies "interfered with the last election."

      • ...considering all of them interfered with the last election then wrote a short book about it https://time.com/5936036/secre... [time.com]

        Reading that link, it says that labor unions and business owners worked together in a "cross-partisan campaign to protect the election–an extraordinary shadow effort dedicated not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted." Not sure if that counts as tech companies "interfered with the last election."

        Given how many of those ignorant minds were working for social media companies, I'd say it counts. Especially when you consider the undeniable "influence" factor and how gullible the average citize, I mean Product, is.

    • > ...considering all of them interfered with the last election then wrote a short book about it

      "Private philanthropy stepped into the breach. An assortment of foundations contributed tens of millions in election-administration funding [time.com]"

      "election-administration funding" that's an interesting euphemism /s
  • fox offers to guard the chicken coup.
  • I'm smashing that doubt button really hard right now.
  • by Anonymous Coward

    Only YOU can help prevent election interference and ensure a safe and fair election. Sign up at Stop the Steal to obtain dozens of voter credentials for nearby precincts so that you can stuff the ballot box for Trump! If Trump doesn't win this time, we'll know for certain the election was completely RIGGED. #trump2024 #stopthesteal

  • by geekmux ( 1040042 ) on Friday February 16, 2024 @01:56PM (#64245388)

    Since the information pimps have claimed they're going to make a "pledge" to combat mis/disinformation in an election year, do we plebs have the legal right to sue the living shit out of them when they utterly fail to do so?

    Asking for a citizen who still doesn't believe Greed N. Corruption. Yeah, it's somehow completely shocking to find that. After everything the media has sold you. For profit.

    • nah they will peddle the crap for the cash the eyballs bring, then afterwwards just say sorry we tried and failed but lessons will be learned.
  • by iAmWaySmarterThanYou ( 10095012 ) on Friday February 16, 2024 @02:09PM (#64245432)

    They own that space and will aggressively stomp anyone else who tries to muscle in on their territory.

    This is about as serious as the telcos saying they will do high speed net to rural areas. They just need a monopoly and another $50 billion.
    Really. We're gunna do it this time. Pinky swear!

    • One would think we learned our lesson from the .bomb, when LECs were literally destroying their own CLECs after then 1986 telecommunications act did fuck-all to create and sustain an industry mandated from anti-corruption efforts.

      Maybe the lesson we should be teaching to every activist today, is to not act so surprised when you find your "movements" are decades old.

  • by zkiwi34 ( 974563 ) on Friday February 16, 2024 @02:12PM (#64245448)
    I guess this still means, if thereâ(TM)s the remotest chance youâ(TM)re posting something not in lockstep with the current progressive diktat, youâ(TM)ll be tagged and/or dropped like you are hot.
    • I guess this still means, if thereâ(TM)s the remotest chance youâ(TM)re posting something not in lockstep with the current progressive diktat, youâ(TM)ll be tagged and/or dropped like you are hot.

      The largest piece of evidence that election interference does NOT work, is President Trump.

      Given that evidence, perhaps the majority should realize who is actually in power, and think for themselves for once.

  • by Tony Isaac ( 1301187 ) on Friday February 16, 2024 @02:18PM (#64245462) Homepage

    I mean, who could better protect us from Microsoft, Google, Meta, and X, than Microsoft, Google, Meta, and X!

  • So we all agree then that we'll just leave the lying to the experts?

    I'm pretty sure if I made a deepfake of Trump admitting he's a lying asshole, or Hillary confessing to a murder, or Bush claiming responsibility for 911, or the CIA claiming they rig every election and killed JFK - I'd somehow have created LESS misinformation.

    • by HiThere ( 15173 )

      I don't think Bush actively caused 9/11. He and his team just resolutely ignored all evidence that it was in process. You get to guess as to why they did so. Perhaps they really thought nobody would do something like that.

  • I dunno how they can do much damage.
    It isn't like the candidate are of quality.
    Or just basic competence.
  • It's an empty gesture of course, but nice nonetheless.

    Let's not mince words here. There's been plenty of lies and mudslinging from all sides already, and it's unlikely to decrease.

    LLM's will only make their job easier. I see no way out of it at this point, but I'm more than happy to be proven wrong.

    • by HiThere ( 15173 )

      An empty gesture. Well, that's right. But I'd call it self-serving rather than nice. UNLESS there are some enforceable penalties if they don't follow through.

  • Translation: we will be actively trying to prevent others from using AI for election interference, but will ourselves be using AI to influence the election results we want to see.

  • They know that if they don't, AI will be used in full force to manipulate the living shit out of the POTUS election. And this will instantly cause every country in the world to ban AI for exactly that reason.

    I actually believe them if they say they will do whatever they can to avoid this. Not because they give a fuck about voting manipulation, more because they care about their markets going up in a puff of smoke.

  • Meanwhile, Facebook continue to bombard me with AI-generated scams pretending to be celebrities. I spend about half my time on Facebook ( about 2 minutes a day ) reporting these. I always get a reply stating that Facebook approve of these ads, and to whinge somewhere else. Pathological liars and criminals.
  • 2000 Mules [youtube.com]” a documentary film created by Dinesh D’Souza, exposes widespread, coordinated voter fraud in the 2020 election, sufficient to change the overall outcome.

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