The Collins campaign used AI to create a deepfake video of Senator Jon Ossoff making statements he never made about government shutdown, with only minimal disclosure that the content was AI-generated.
Republican Congressman Mike Collins' campaign created an AI-generated deepfake video of Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff for use in Collins' Senate primary campaign. The video used Ossoff's official Senate portrait and an AI-generated voice to make him appear to say inflammatory statements about voting to keep the government shut down and dismissing concerns about farmers and SNAP recipients. The video included scripted quotes such as 'They say it'll hurt farmers, but I wouldn't know. I've only seen a farm on Instagram' and dismissive comments about SNAP recipients not being at his fundraisers. A small disclaimer indicating the video was AI-generated was included but was difficult to see on mobile devices, requiring users to click multiple times to view it clearly. The Georgia Democratic Party condemned the video as deceptive, while Collins' campaign defended it and indicated plans to create more similar content. The incident occurred in the context of a heated GOP primary race, with Collins being one of three candidates seeking Ossoff's Senate seat. State legislators have been working on bills to regulate AI deepfakes in campaigns, requiring clear disclosure and banning such content 60 days before elections, but the legislation has not yet passed the Georgia Senate.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Using AI systems to conduct large-scale disinformation campaigns, malicious surveillance, or targeted and sophisticated automated censorship and propaganda, with the aim of manipulating political processes, public opinion, and behavior.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed