Brace Yourself: Elections Near You May Soon Encounter a Touch of AI-Crafted Fiction!
“AI-Generated Fake News Is Coming to an Election Near You”
“What if npc’s didn’t just invade your favorite video game, but your political discourse too?” The once fabled arena of sci-fi and video games is now shaping today’s reality in unpredicted ways, as AI technology brings unsettling innovations to the battlefield of politics.
What we considered a simple fact-checking exercise to distinguish real news from the sea of fakes has now turned into an intricate game of chess. With AI-generated fake news seemingly inching closer to the elections, the future of our political discourse hangs in the balance.
The story commences in the realm of video games, where NPCs, or Non-Player Characters, have been charming players for generations. These entities are powered by Artificial Intelligence, automating interactions within the game. But what if these AI-powered characters slipped from the confines of our gaming screens into the world of politics? Bit eccentric, isn’t it?
The idea of NPCs influencing politics isn’t merely a dystopian fantasy, but an impending reality. Disinformation is a loathed byproduct of tech advancements that can indeed skew the democratic process. Evidence pointed out by the New York University’s Stern Centre highlighted the susceptibility of the upcoming US elections to AI-generated fake news.
Indulge in the realm of ‘OpenAI’, a research lab that developed the text-generating AI, dubbed ‘GPT-2’. This system went from crafting innocent, albeit eerily good, poetry to generating fabricated stories mirroring real news. The OpenAI eggheads, fully conscious of the potential misuses of GPT-2, curtailed the full release of the technology. However, even the trimmed down version released publicly ended up showing signs of manipulation.
As if the present isn’t challenging enough, let’s inject some more lively fears into the future mix. The atypical disorders like ‘deepfake’ videos threaten to distort our realities, blending eerily realistic elements with fantasy, opening the door for confusion and chaos during politically-charged happenings such as elections.
At the risk of sounding overly pessimistic, let’s remind ourselves that all technologies—no matter how daunting—come with solutions. On the bright side, the very advancements enabling these AI threats are also fostering the evolution of fact-checking tools, capable of battling this modern-day menace.
In the era of AI-generated fake news, the technology world must continue its spirited battle to protect our cherished decorum of discourse and democracy. It’s not just about celebrating technological advancements anymore, but about fostering an awareness of their potential misuse and working towards a more secure, digitized landscape. After all, let’s keep the NPCs where they belong – in our consoles, not in the arena of politics.