The Coming AI Crisis

There is an absolutely hilarious video of "Joe Biden" clarifying his withdrawal from the presidential race circulating on the internet. A sanitized version runs below:

You can imagine what lies beneath the bleeps or seek it out on "X." Because the video creator, someone who goes by the handle "Midnight Mitch," decided to use PBS NewsHour branded video, the network felt compelled to issue the following statement:

A deepfake video of President Joe Biden bearing our logo is circulating on social media. Biden did not make this statement. PBS News did not authorize the use of this video and we do not condone altering news video or audio in any way that could mislead the audience.

Now, Mitch did the correct thing and watermarked his video. He's not peddling it as real. A political consultant who did send out robocalls from "Biden" two days prior to the New Hampshire primary is facing a $6M fine and state felony charges.

Actress Scarlett Johansson is in a battle with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman after she accused him of stealing her voice. Celebrities have long fought against soundalikes and imitators. Bert Lahr, the actor who played the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz, was none too happy with cartoon character Snagglepuss, and when Kellogg's used the character in a series of TV commercials in the 1960s, Lahr forced them to put a disclaimer on the screen that read, "Snagglepuss voice by Daws Butler."

That's not to say that this technology needs to be banned. Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat from Virginia, suffers from Progressive Supra-nuclear Palsy and it has robbed her of her voice. (She's retiring in January.) Her staff fed past speeches into an A.I. program and the result is a very passable version of her. She uses it on the floor of the House and in committee meetings. For all intents and purposes, it is her speaking.

It's one thing for movie studios to resurrect the dead with family permission (and often participation) but as home computers and software become more powerful, there will be amateur mischief makers out there creating a whole lot of trouble in the future.