Texas’ fight against deepfakes: Preserving Democracy amidst rise of Artificial Intelligence in elections [Video]

TEXAS (KTRK) — In late April, a photo surfaced on social media showing Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan embracing Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat and former Speaker of the House.

“Important Voter Alert!” Phelan posted on his account just weeks before a runoff to retain his seat, along with two images. He cited a deepfake image in which his face was superimposed over Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.

“Deepfakes” are raising alarms in political circles, and campaigns and policymakers are working hard to find the balance between embracing Artificial Intelligence for its many benefits and containing its potential threats to democracy.

Ryan Kennedy studies the intersection of public policy and artificial intelligence at the University of Houston.

He says AI has democratized the ability to manipulate media in three key ways: lower cost, increased scale, and greater personalization.

“Well, there’s a lot of concerns about the use of artificial intelligence to generate misinformation,” Kennedy …