As the months of 2024 unfold, we are all part of an extraordinary year for the history of both democracy and technology. More countries and people will vote for their elected leaders than in any year in human history. At the same time, the development of AI is racing ever faster ahead, offering extraordinary benefits but also enabling bad actors to deceive voters by creating realistic “deepfakes” of candidates and other individuals. The contrast between the promise and peril of new technology has seldom been more striking.
This quickly has become a year that requires all of us who care about democracy to work together to meet the moment.
Today, the tech sector came together at the Munich Security Conference to take a vital step forward. Standing together, 20 companies [1] announced a new Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections. Its goal is straightforward but critical – to combat video, audio, and images that fake or alter the appearance, voice, or actions of political candidates, election officials, and other key stakeholders. It is not a partisan initiative or designed to discourage free expression. It aims instead to ensure that voters retain the right to choose who governs them, free of this new type of AI-based manipulation.
The challenges are formidable, and our expectations must be realistic. But the accord represents a rare and decisive step, unifying the tech sector with concrete voluntary commitments at a vital time to help protect the elections that will take place in more than 65 nations between the beginning of March and the end of the year.
While many more steps will be needed, today marks the launch of a genuinely global initiative to take immediate practical steps and generate more and broader momentum.
What’s the problem we’re trying to solve?
It’s worth starting with the problem we need to solve. New generative AI tools make it possible to create realistic and convincing audio, video, and images that fake or alter the appearance, voice, or actions of people. They’re often called “deepfakes.” The costs of creation are low, and the results are stunning. The AI for Good Lab at Microsoft first demonstrated this for me last year when they took off-the-shelf products, spent less than $20 on computing time, and created realistic videos that not only put new words in my mouth, but had me using them in speeches in Spanish and Mandarin that matched the sound of my voice and the movement of my lips.
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