Movie director Jordan Peele once helped make a video with Buzzfeed News titled "You Won't Believe What Obama Says In This Video."
"We're entering an era in which our enemies can make it look like anyone is saying anything," former President Barack Obama "says" in the 2018 video, seemingly quoting villain Killmonger from "Black Panther" and calling then-President Donald Trump “a total and complete dips—.”
But like so many of Peele’s movies that have surprise endings (i.e. "Nope," "Get Out" and "Us"), the video reveals a twist — the Academy Award winner was voicing an animated Obama throughout the entire video.
Five years later, Peele’s exposé has gained new relevance ahead of the 2024 election. Concerns over the use of deepfakes and artificial intelligence (AI) to spread misinformation or manipulate what famous people say and do have alarmed lawmakers and voters, alike.
Deepfakes of Taylor Swift spread across social media in recent months, including one where the pop star appears to endorse Trump. The situation caused problems for Microsoft Corporation MSFT, which had the software used for the images and quickly sought to render a solution.
And in October, Meta Platforms Inc. META was under scrutiny for its policies on AI-created deepfakes following its refusal to remove a misleading video of President Joe Biden from Facebook.
Related Link: Over Half Of Americans Think Artificial Intelligence Could Spread Misinformation For 2024 Election
While the Peele video continues to rack up views (over nine million and counting), big tech firms are playing catchup to mitigate the problems that deepfake and AI-related software present.
In November, Microsoft introduced a new tool for U.S. politicians and campaign organizations to combat the rise of deepfakes ahead of the 2024 election.
Meta eventually cracked down on the use of new generative AI ad tools for political campaigns in fear that the tools would be used for election deepfakes.
Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL also rolled out a new policy that makes it mandatory for election advertisers to disclose if any artificial intelligence tools were used in the creation of campaign ads.
Social media is expected to play a big role in the 2024 election and could also be a place where voters search for results. The rise of AI to generate headlines and stories could see social media platforms set policies well in advance of the election to make sure fake headlines and stories don't end up going viral around election time.
Peele's video could serve as a perfect warning for election deepfakes. The question remains whether enough was done from the warning to fight off misinformation.
Image: Shutterstock
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