Tech giants pledge to curb AI election influence amid concerns

Twenty tech companies developing artificial intelligence (AI) on Friday, Feb. 16, announced their commitment to prevent their software from influencing elections, including those in the United States.

The agreement acknowledges that the companies’ products pose a significant risk, especially in a year when around 4 billion people worldwide are expected to participate in elections. The document highlights concerns about deceptive AI election content and its potential to mislead the public, posing a threat to the integrity of electoral processes.

The agreement also acknowledges that global lawmakers have been slow to respond to the rapid progress in generative AI, leading the tech industry to explore self-regulation. Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, supported this in a statement:

“As society embraces the benefits of AI, we have a responsibility to help ensure these tools don’t become weaponized in elections,”

The 20 signatories of the pledge include tech giants like Microsoft, Google, Adobe, Amazon, Anthropic, Arm, ElevenLabs, IBM, Inflection AI, LinkedIn, McAfee, Meta, Nota, OpenAI, Snap, Stability AI, TikTok, TrendMicro, Truepic and X.

This is not a drill: We are in one of the most consequential election years in recent memory. Social-media companies need to step up to guard against the harms of #AI .

Our statement: https://t.co/shTZEQIsVt

— Free Press (@freepress) February 16, 2024

However, the accord is voluntary and doesn’t go as far as a complete ban on AI content in elections. The 1,500-word document outlines eight steps the companies commit to taking this year. These steps involve creating tools to differentiate AI-generated images from genuine content and ensuring transparency with the public about significant developments.

Free Press, an open internet advocacy group, stated that the commitment was an empty promise. They argued that tech companies have not followed previous pledges for election integrity after the 2020 election. The group advocates for increased oversight by human reviewers.

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Congresswoman Yvette Clarke of the 9th District of New York said she welcomed the tech accord and wants to see Congress build on it. Emphasizing the importance of the agreement, she said:

“This could be a defining moment for this Congress, and this may be the one unifying issue where we can band together to protect this nation and future generations of Americans to come,”

Clarke has sponsored legislation to regulate deepfakes and AI-generated content in political ads.

On Jan. 31, the Federal Communications Commission voted to outlaw AI-generated robocalls that contain AI-generated voices. This came after a fake robocall claiming to be from President Joe Biden ahead of January’s New Hampshire primary caused widespread alarm about the potential for counterfeit voices , images and video in politics.

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